An award-winning park in Surbiton is being left to stagnate after a plan to improve the space was abandoned four years ago, according to an environmental campaigner.

Bob Howe said Fishponds Park in Ewell Road should be stripped of its Green Flag award and renamed – as there are no longer any fish in the ponds.

He blamed the failure by Thames Water to complete a project known as the Browns Road flood alleviation scheme for the park’s downfall.

Mr Howe, 68, from King Charles Road, Surbiton, took the Surrey Comet on a tour of Fishponds, pointing out algae covered ponds and broken water filters.

He said: “This used to be a lovely park. Ponds were clean, there were fish in them. Now there are no fish in this park at all. They’ll have to rename it.

“It won a Green Flag award, but I don’t know how. It should be taken away.”

The Browns Road Flood alleviation scheme took place between November 2009 and March 2010.

It set out to install an overflow system to allow storm water to flow into the Fishponds and out to the Hogsmill River, preventing Browns Road from flooding.

Although that part of the scheme was completed, several promised enhancements failed to materialise, Mr Howe said.

They included de-silting the ponds and restocking them with fish, improving pipework, creating new stag beetle habitats and improving the wetland area.

A Kingston Council spokesman said: “The council raised concerns with Thames Water at the time the scheme was installed, including questions about the inevitable build up of silt.

"A plan to deal with this was promised, but little appears to have been done since the scheme was put in place despite efforts to contact Thames Water.

“The scheme has successfully diverted surface water from Browns Road through the ponds in the park and into the Hogsmill River.”

A Thames Water spokeswoman said: “We are investigating what has happened and will send an engineer down to the site to assess the situation."