SALMON and sea trout are spawning on a previously inaccessible tributary of the River Tamar thanks to work carried out by the Environment Agency and local angling enthusiasts.

Until recently, fish migrating up the Combebow stream could only get as far as the road bridge near Lifton. Their passage was blocked by tree branches and other debris clogging a series of pipes and a concrete ledge at the base of the bridge.

In 2010 the agency carried out improvements to the bridge, including replacing the pipes with a large, new culvert and installing baffles to slow the water flow. The £45,000 project was completed with the help of local angling interest groups and funded with money from rod licence sales.

When fisheries officers inspected the river in December they saw an encouraging number of salmon and sea trout 'redds' upstream of the bridge. These are spawning areas where fish lay eggs in riverbed gravel. Prior to the improvements, salmon had only been recorded upstream very rarely.

Construction work involved cutting through a section of the old bridge and closing off the road to traffic for short periods. The work was carried out by the agency's operations delivery team as part of an action plan to improve salmon and sea trout stocks on the Tamar.

The agency's Lesley Newport said: 'It is very satisfying to achieve such a positive result. We would like to thank landowners, local people and businesses for their help and support despite being inconvenienced by the work at times.

'We can now look forward to seeing fish stocks improve on this important tributary.'