Two men have pleaded guilty to breaching Criminal Behaviour Orders after they were found fishing at Idle Valley Nature Reserve, near Retford.
Luke Douglas, 24, and Layton Janes, 30, were spotted by officers at the reserve on Wednesday 13 May after reports of illegal fishing.
The lake is part of Idle Valley Nature Reserve, which is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Both men had previously been made subject to five-year Criminal Behaviour Orders on 23 May 2024. The orders ban them from entering Idle Valley Nature Reserve and from fishing, or possessing fishing equipment, anywhere in the Bassetlaw district.
Police said Douglas and Janes were found with four rods positioned along the bank, using baited rigs with boilies, a method commonly used to catch carp.
Douglas was detained at the scene, while Janes initially ran off before handing himself in later the same day.
Both men were charged with breaching their CBOs and remanded in custody overnight.
They pleaded guilty when they appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on Thursday 14 May.
Douglas, of Welfare Avenue, Barwick in Elmet, Leeds, and Janes, of Canal Lane, Lofthouse Gate, Wakefield, were each ordered to pay £85.
PC Mark Holland, of the Worksop South neighbourhood policing team, said illegal fishing could cause environmental damage at protected sites.
He said: “This type of behaviour can cause substantial environmental damage, and it is important we do what we can to protect our rural landscapes and wildlife.
“Even when fish are caught and then released, as in this case, it causes avoidable stress to nature, injury to vulnerable species, and undermines recovery projects.
“We have also seen the reserve left full of rubbish and staff subjected to rudeness, and that behaviour has no place at a site of this importance.”
Idle Valley Nature Reserve is one of the largest nature conservation sites in Nottinghamshire.
