Two anglers from Southampton have been fined more than £600 for fishing without licences in the River Itchen and Testwood Lake.

Owen Stockting and Darren Broadhurst were caught by Environment Agency fisheries officers in Southampton last autumn.

Broadhurst, 47, of Carey Road in Thornhill, fished illegally on the River Itchen at Swaythling in October 2023.

He wasn’t present to hear magistrates fine him £220, with costs of £135 and an £88 victim surcharge, last month.    

Stockting, of Matheson Road in Lordshill, went fishing without a licence at Totton’s Testwood Lakes in September 2023.

At a court hearing, the 26-year-old admitted the offence and was fined £83, with costs of £85 and a victim surcharge of £33.   

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Senior enforcement officer at the Environment Agency, Kye Jerrom, said: “Fishing licences are great value and less expensive than fines.

“The income helps with the sustainable management of fisheries. It’s quick, easy and cheap to get a licence: by phone and online – search ‘fishing licence’ on gov.uk.

“Our fisheries enforcement officers check private lakes, rivers, ponds and canals for illegal fishing, supported by clubs, the Angling Trust and police.”

The enforcement action comes after anglers from West Sussex and London were also prosecuted for fishing without a licence.

In the UK, anyone aged 13 or over needs a licence to fish for salmon, trout, eels or freshwater species.

The close season for coarse fishing is in force, meaning angling for those species is prohibited from March 15 to June 15 every year on rivers, streams, canals and still waters.