The council’s refusal to dredge a lake in St Albans has been branded “unforgivable”.

Concerns for the future of Verulamium Lake have been raised following a string of duck deaths earlier in the summer.

Nearly 100 ducks died during July and August and many of their deaths were attributed to a strain of Avian Botulism, a paralytic disease caused by ingestion of a toxin produced by a bacteria.

Many concerned park users said the deaths were most likely due to the poor cleanliness of the lake, and have asked for it to be drained and dug out.

Denise Thornton, of Chequer Street, said she is thinking of starting a petition asking St Albans District Council to drain the lake.

She said: “I cannot imagine, nor remotely understand why councillors would think St Albans citizens are silly enough to believe the problem is, because of overfeeding the ducks, when this problem was addressed many years ago and ducks are starving every winter because people have refrained from feeding them bread.

“The council’s approach of blaming the ducks is laughable.

“Particularly inappropriate, as it is, the ducks that are dying.

“How many geese, herons, swans and other wildlife have met a horrible death from the stench and rancid conditions of Verulamium Lake?

“The quality of the water can hardly be described as good and it is unforgivable that St Albans now contains a lake so filthy, it is unsafe to visit.”

Last month, St Albans city officials placed signs around the pond’s perimeter warning people to stay out of the pond.

It read: "As a precaution we are advising members of the public not to go into the lakes and that dog owners keep their pets out of the water."

A small part of the lake was dug out in 2005 for around £20,000 because most of the water had evaporated and the silt had been exposed.

The council said draining or dredging the lake is too costly and could crack the lake’s membrane, which could cost hundreds of thousands of pounds to rectify.

Following a strong response from the community, the council said they would be considering various solutions to the problem, some of which are to be rolled out within the next year.