Eastern Europeans, Poles in particular, have been banned from fishing at a lake in Oxfordshire, UK, after the site owner claimed they were stealing his stock, The Mail on Sunday said on August 15 2009.

Farmer Billy Evans,71, of Field Farm Fisheries in Launton, Oxfordshire, charges fishermen seven pounds a day at his four-acre lake.

Once they pay this fee fishermen are allowed to take two of the fish they catch, but, according to Evans, this was not the case with the Eastern Europeans.

There were normally 30 000 fish in his lake but hundreds have been stolen by eastern Europeans, he told the paper.

‘I’ve found groups of Poles bagging up the fish. I’ve been catching them red-handed and have seen them on CCTV leaving with bags of fish. I’ve also caught them using barbed hooks, which tear the fish’s mouth," he said.

Hence, a month ago he put up a sign saying "No Polish or Eastern Europe fishers allowed". Since then - he told The Mail on Sunday -  that he has not caught anybody stealing his stock.

"The eastern Europeans tend to fish in groups, not alone, and I caught one group who had four carrier bags full of half-dead fish. I told them it wasn’t allowed and one guy threatened me," he said.

However, police told the Mail on Sunday that they have not had any reports of the thefts or the threats by Evans.

A spokesman for the Equality and Human Rights Commission told the Mail on Sunday that it was unlawful to be refused a service – or not to be given the same standard of service extended to others – on grounds of race.