A landowner has moved to reassure residents, who feared he was going to make them pay for the restocking of a fishing lake.

Russell Edwards is spending more than £10,000 on restocking the lake at Little Plumstead, close to the Glade estate, which he owns.

But after he included details of the works on a management fees invoice delivered to residents of the estate, some were left fearing the costs of the work were falling on them.

One man, who did not wish to be named, said: "I do not have any problem with paying for work that is done or for general maintenance, but the fishery I will question.

"The lake does not belong to us and does not have anything to do with us, so I wouldn't want to be paying for that."

One of his neighbours added: "This is absolutely not something we should be paying for."

However, Mr Edwards insisted that people living on the estate would not be expected to contribute towards the costs of restocking the lake - and that it was not part of a business plan.

He said: "It will not be a public fishing lake, it will be for the residents to fish in and for private angling clubs.

"I'm not planning for it to be a big earner, it might bring in around £2,600 a year.

"All I want to do is make the land beautiful and I am fully entitled to claim for the maintenance I do as the owner of the land.

"The lake is part of the work I am doing to improve the site but the residents will not be charged for that."

The fears were raised after Mr Edwards included the phrase "establish fisheries" underneath the heading of 2021-22 management in a letter attached to an invoice sent to homes on the estate.

However, he said this letter was simply informing homeowners of works being carried out, as opposed to telling them what they would be billed for.