A GRANT to protect fish and to improve their habitats has been donated to The Pickering Fisheries Association.

The Duchy of Lancaster has awarded the group the money to help protect the river banks of Pickering Beck from erosion and to improve the habitat of native Brown Trout and other fish in the water.

Tony Walsh, of Pickering Fisheries Association, said that the grant would be a real boost to the work they were currently doing.

"Receiving the grant form the Duchy is a real boost and confirms the work we are doing is locally valued," he said.

"It also allows us to to build on the river work we did last year on the Duchy Water for which we received an award from the Wild Trout Trust."

The group said that the money will go towards using timber spilling and brushwood faggots to stabilise the river banks in a bid to stop erosion and help prevent soil and silt from entering the river.

Work is due to take place on Friday, October 24 as the work for the Pickering Food Alleviation Reservoir continues to make progress and is due for completion at the end of this year. The flood work is expected to protect more than 80 homes and local businesses from flooding when it has been completed.

Dean Hamblin, senior advisor at the Environment Agency Flood Risk, said: "Now that the flood scheme work is nearing completion we are delighted to take this opportunity to work with the PIckering Fisheries Association, our contractors Jackson Civil Engineering and the East Yorkshire Rivers Trust to make these additional improvements to the river environment and further protect this valuable habitat."