A team of borough council workers were called to Ipswich’s Christchurch Park after a broken pipe led to the area around its largest pond being cordoned off at the weekend.

Footpaths around the Wilderness Pond were sealed off after it overflowed.

A spokesman for the council said the problem was traced to the pipe from the pond which feeds the nearby Peace Pond before draining away.

A section of this collapsed, and a team was called in to replace it today.

A council spokesman said: “Our contractors are working on site today and aim to have completed repairs by tomorrow so we can re-open access to that area of the park.”

The council has also asked visitors not to feed the ducks too much after a rise in the number of rats being seen around the ponds in Christchurch Park.

The spokesman said the number of rats was directly related to the amount of bread that kind-hearted visitors feed to the ducks in the Wilderness Pond.

He said: “We had an increase in the number of rats a couple of years ago and after we appealed to people not to leave too much bread the numbers fell.

“Now the numbers are rising again – there is a direct link between the rise in the number of rats and the amount of bread thrown into the pond so we would appeal for people not to feed the ducks.”