SALMON have returned to a West Country river for the first time in four years, thanks to a project which dumped 700 tones of granite gravel into the water, writes John Bett.

The fish and trout disappeared from the Avon in Devon as natural gravel beds were lost through obstacles like weirs or dams which prevented stones travelling down the river.

But the Westcountry Rivers Trust added the gravel to a 2.5-mile section of the river and the salmon have been spotted again.

Some 21 juvenile salmon were counted in a five-minute spot survey of the river, which rises on Dartmoor and flows into the sea at Bantham.

The project has been funded by South West Water as part of the National Environment Programme.

It aims to increase the number of salmon and trout by creating new gravel beds into which adult salmon lay their spawn.

Matt Healey, Land and Fisheries Officer for the Westcountry Rivers Trust said: "We are absolutely delighted to have counted 21 juvenile salmon in a stretch of river where they were previously completely absent.

"These were juvenile fish, which hatched this year, so we know salmon are now spawning in our new gravel beds. This is an incredibly positive result."