ROYAL Forest of Dean Angling Club officials were cock-a-hoop over winning a coarse fishery lease on the River Wye three years ago.

But now the waters are somewhat muddied after learning the lease for the Courtfield fishery at Lower Lydbrook will not be renewed beyond the end of the coarse fishing season in mid March this year.

The club's commercial officer, Tony Summers, lays the blame for this at the feet of lessee Donald Macer-Wright, who in turn leases the water from its riperian owner, the Courtfield Estate. Mr Summers says the prospect of earning more money from a new lease to the Wye and Usk Foundation is the motive for the change, while Mr Macer-Wright says his own greater concern is the efficient conservation of fish stocks, in-part recommended by the Estate. Re-leasing means fewer people will fish the water, paying more for the privilege and giving greater returns to Mr Macer-Wright and in turn the Courtfield Estate, as well as supporting the Wye and Usk Foundation which has a strong conservation role, in particular trying to restore depleted salmon stocks in the Wye.

But Mr Summers says the move is heartbreaking, particularly after the amount of work the club has put into the Courtfield fishery.

He says that when they took on the lease Mr Macer-Wright had told him the water was "significantly underfished, and in need of constant care to bring it back to life."

Mr Summers added: "In the ensuing three years, the club has breathed life into the venue. The banks have been regularly strimmed and all litter removed daily. Our fisheries management officer, Dennis Sherwood, has himself spent over 40 hours on the bank."

Parking problems, poaching and anti-social behaviour had also been addressed.

"Despite all this hard work and effort, the club was unceremoniously kicked off the venue without being given a chance to negotiate an extension of the lease."

However Mr Macer-Wright says the work undertaken by the club was agreed when the lease was first assigned.

Both men agree the fishing has declined over three years, Mr Summers putting this down to a general decline and pollution throughout the Wye system and Mr Macer-Wright believing the problem comes from over-fishing by the club, which allowed day-ticket fishing on the water at £6 a head. The Wye and Usk Foundation plans to charge £15 for a day ticket.

Mr Macer-Wright said: "My lease ends in March and it was time to review it and renew negoitiations with the Courtfield Estate. An agreement with the Wye and Usk Foundation means just four rods a day can fish the water, which is less than a mile of bank. That puts it under far less pressure and I'm sure fish stocks will pick up as a result."

Mr Macer-Wright said he had offered the club a nearby stretch of water, which has produced some fine pike, at a competitive rental – an alternative the club had declined to take up.

Mr Summers says: "Our club was formed 50 years ago with the purpose of offering affordable angling to is members. We proudly hang on to that tradition and do not intend to take this decision lightly. What has eventually been proposed to us is not viable in today's economic climate, and we feel justifiably aggrieved at the way our club has been treated."