KEEN anglers will benefit from a price freeze while fishing at Kielder reservoir in the new season, which opens on Saturday, March 11.

A full eight-fish day permit remains £24 with concessions at £22; the four-fish credit cruncher from 2pm is £17 and the family and couples 12-fish ticket is £36.

Full-day boat hire charges for Kielder Water have also been frozen at £15 midweek and £19 for weekends.

Northumbrian Water’s waterside parks leisure operations manager Don Coe said: “We appreciate that many of our anglers are finding it increasingly difficult to fund their fishing.

“It’s not easy for us to meet the costs to sustain our fisheries either, but we continue to look closely at our budgets and believe that we can keep price and catch limits the same.”

There will be at least 12,000 fish stocked at the six premier North-East fisheries on opening day.

And throughout the season a minimum of 80,000 fish will be stocked in the reservoirs, with more than half of them from Northumbrian Water’s own fish farms in Northumberland and the Tees Valley.

There are additional benefits, such as a new rewards scheme for purchasing retail goods from Northumbrian Water, and an existing loyalty programme, where customers can get their eighth day permit visit free.