Three men have been ordered to pay a total of £900 in fines after pleading guilty to fishing offences on the River Teifi.

The prosecutions were brought by Environment Agency Wales and dealt with by Cardigan magistrates last week.

Emlyn James Rees, of Williams Terrace, Cardigan, and George Sommerville, of Bay View, Parcllyn, Aberporth, both pleaded guilty to placing a unauthorised net on the River Teifi, upstream of Cardigan, and taking a migratory trout illegally.

Both men were ordered to pay fines of £150 on each offence.

A third man, Dean Adam Binding, of Ivy Cottage, Talgarreg, also pleaded guilty to the second offence. He was fined £150.

All three were ordered to pay £50 each in costs.

The court was told that last September two enforcement officers from Environment Agency Wales were conducting a patrol of the River Teifi, at Cardigan. They saw Rees and Summerville walking through the swimming pool car park carrying paddles.

The officers then saw a green canoe up-stream and recognised the occupants as the men they had seen earlier.

They later found a net which had been placed across the river.

The following morning one of the officers saw the canoe travelling downstream before it landed near the New Town bridge.

Rees and Summerville were accompanied by a third person, later identified as Binding.

They carried a green army-style bag, which was found to contain a gill net and a number of fish, when searched by the officer.

After the case an agency spokesperson said: "Our fisheries enforcement officers will continue to patrol the river Teifi and other rivers in west Wales throughout the forthcoming angling season.

"Migratory salmonid stocks are under enough pressure including loss of feeding grounds and netting at sea."