Thrupp Lake in Radley, Oxfordshire, has been described by a local ecologist as 'the best site for breeding birds in the county.' As a wildlife haven, it is thought by many to have no equal in Oxfordshire.
But within a matter of months the lake is scheduled to be drained and flooded with a slurry of toxic pulverised fuel ash from nearby Didcot power station.
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This article first appeared in the Ecologist March 2007