ANGLERS have been left high and dry by a reservoir leak in Rivington that has still to be plugged -- 11 months after it was first reported.

Angling shops in Horwich that normally sell fishing day-trip tickets to enthusiasts have lost thousands of pounds because of the leak at the Upper Rivington Reservoir.

The leak, caused by a collapsed wall, was first discovered by United Utilities in January.

The reservoir has only just started to be refilled this week -- and it will not be until Christmas that water levels will return to normal.

And fish stocks that were taken out of the reservoir will not be returned until the £2 million repair work has been completed.

Beverly David Jones, the owner of Crown, Tackle and Bait, said: "We've had fishermen coming in all year asking when someone would be able to tell them anything positive.

"It's cost me about ten thousand pounds in lost revenue, not just from lost day-trip sales, but from people not coming in and buying day-to-day fishing equipment."

A spokesman for United Utilities said: "The repair work to the reservoir has been a big job and we wanted to get it right.

"We believe that anglers understand what we're doing, and we're working hard to try to fix the leak as soon as we can."