Joyce Klemperer said: "The de-stocking exercise is to be postponed. AES are being sent away. We will consult further with the Environment Agency (EA), and we will call a meeting of all lake anglers, at which we would hope that the EA will be present to explain and discuss the requirement to de-stock. We would like to re-open the lake for fishing as soon as a new lock can be fitted."

The announcement was met with cheers and applause, and one protester even gave Mrs Klemperer a kiss on the cheek. The proposed cull would have seen the lake's carp population cut from 156 to 65 fish.

Mr Hodges, who has been fishing at the lake for 11 years, said: "Being locked to that gate in the freezing cold all morning was worth it. I would have been there all day and night if I'd had to, all week. But this is a great result. Hopefully we'll now be able to resolve this – at least we'll be able to have our say."

The club has 1,500 swimming members and 200 angling members who use the lake. The row began over the club's plans to remove about half the fish in the lake because they say it is overstocked, and then kill most of them because they are infected with an untreatable parasite. The EA has said the fish cannot be re-homed because they would pass the parasite on.

Mr Thompson said yesterday that another angling club, whose pool also has the parasite, has offered to take the fish, but he was waiting for permission from the EA.

Mr Thompson said that water clarity in the lake is poor caused by fish feeding from the bottom of the lake. The protesters say removing fish is the "cheap option" and the lake should be de-silted if the club wants to improve water clarity.

Mr Thompson said: "To de-silt the lake we would have to drain it, and that would be hugely expensive. We also have problems with the oxygen levels in the water, which is why the Environment Agency supports us in what we are doing. We are trying to prevent fish dying in the summer."