Environment officials are claiming victory on illegal anglers in the North East after hundreds of checks revealed only a handful without licences.

A total of 895 checks were made in Northumberland and Tyne and Wear by the Environment Agency with only three anglers found without a licence.

Enquiries are still being made into seven others who claimed to have left their permits at home.

Fisheries enforcement officer Kevin Summerson said: "The instantaneous evasion rate was less than 1.2%. Perhaps the message is getting through.

"The valuable income raised by rod licences is pumped back into our fisheries and pays for a variety of work from habitat improvement to re-stocking."