Brent Reservoir was transformed into Brent Mudflats after all the water was drained away to carry out essential maintenance work.

The West Hendon beauty spot has been the site of grisly deeds over the years most recently 21-year-old Harlesden man, Affa Tikur, whose bullet-ridden body was found in undergrowth in August 2000. So far, the mud has been unwilling to yield up any secrets that could help detectives find his killers.

Before the water enough to fill three million baths was slowly released into the river Brent, British Waterways had rescued more than 10,000lbs of freshwater fish using 300 metre-long nets, and transported them to Ealing using oxygenated tanks on vans.

Divers fitted a giant filter to prevent large amounts of silt escaping. The draining of the reservoir, also known as the Welsh Harp, was deemed necessary after it was discovered that the huge sluice gates were faulty.

The reservoir acts as flood storage, but engineers calculated the gates would not have defended the area against flooding in the event of torrential rain.

The work is due to be finished in January, with the fish being returned in February.

December 18, 2001 12:00