A man has spoken of his anger at barriers that are continually dumped in a restored pond.

Colin Oliphant said the mindless act is affecting wildlife and fishermen at Miller’s Pond.

Work is currently underway at the Southampton Nature Reserve to improve the area for those who use it.

But this is hard to achieve when equipment used by Southampton City Council is being thrown into the water.

Daily Echo:

Colin, chairman of the neighbouring Sholing Valleys Study Centre, said: “We, along with the council, are doing work at Miller’s Pond to make the area nicer.

“But these lovely people of the area have decided to throw the barriers in the pond.

“They do it all the time, the little devils.

“We are installing a viewing area and four to five fishing swims which are coming along quite nicely.

“The barriers from the council are meant to stop people from going on the areas that are not ready yet, but instead, people are throwing them in the pond.”

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Daily Echo:

The much-needed improvements come after the pond was restocked with thousands of fish at the start of this year.

Bucketfuls of crucian carp, rudd, and tench were emptied into the water to improve the habitat of the site.

This is one of the many changes recently made to make the area more sustainable and attractive.

Colin added: “We are working hard to make this area nicer for everybody, but this keeps happening all the time.

“It stops the fisherman from catching the fish too, which takes away from the essence of the area.

“We are finally getting there with the restoration of the pond, but we are now battling this.

“All of us at the Study Centre are volunteers and we work hard to make Miller’s Pond nice for everybody, but the mindless few want to wreck it.

“It’s our New Forest in the heart of Southampton.”

Southampton City Council confirmed they are aware of the incidents.

A spokesperson said: “The barriers appear to be pushed into the pond.

“We have advised our contractor working there who will retrieve these as soon as possible.”