Anxious wait for Broads pike anglers

Pike anglers across East Anglia are bracing themselves for the worst as they wait for the scale of damage salt tides have done to the rivers Yare and Waveney to become clear.

Hundreds of families were evacuated from their homes as a North Sea storm surge sparked flood warnings around the East Coast.

While most parts of the region escaped disaster by inches - as the highest tides for 50 years lashed the coastline - the surge had forced salt water far inland by Friday lunchtime.

The RSPB said "large numbers" of fish had died as saltwater inundated its Strumpshaw Fen reserve, of the Yare between Rockland Broad and Brundall.

The damage is likely to become clear over the weekend, as anglers return to the Yare, Rockland, the Waveney and Oulton Broad.