Cork County Council has said that, following agreement with Inland Fisheries Ireland, dredging of the River Bandon has recommenced and will continue ‘from dawn to dusk’ until Thursday evening.
There is a legal ban on dredging the river bed in place from 1 October to protect salmon and trout stocks.
Officers from Inland Fisheries Ireland were involved in a stand-off with a contractor working for Cork County Council to dredge river.
Local people have been campaigning to have the river dredged following last November's floods, when dozens of homes and businesses were flooded with up to 1.6m of water.
They claim that excessive levels of gravel in the river contributed to the flooding of the town.
However, Inland Fisheries Ireland has opposed the dredging of the river because of its importance for angling and the interference with breeding pools for fish.
The contractor dredged several tonnes of gravel from the river bed close to the creamery in Bandon this morning.
However, it was then prevented from continuing the work after two officers from Inland Fisheries Ireland arrived.
