A dead fish who earned the title of Britain’s biggest carp has languished in a freezer for five years due to a wrangle over his final resting place.

Two Tone - so called because of his distinct “half and half” coloration - was found dead at Conningbrook Lake, near Ashford, in August 2010. Fifty anglers gathered to pay their respects at a special service.

The famous fish, aged 45, had been in the lake since 1982 and at 67lb 14oz was officially the UK’s heaviest carp.

After Two Tone passed away his body was put in a freezer at the Mid Kent Fisheries base in Chilham, with the intention it would be donated and displayed at the Natural History Museum in London.

But that never happened as the museum could not guarantee Two Tone would go on show to the public.

So, nearly five years on the fish’s body remains in the Chilham freezer.

Chris Logsdon junior, Mid Kent Fisheries managing director, said the plan now is for Two Tone to end up back at Conningbrook.

He said: “We said if the fish wasn’t going to be displayed we would rather he stayed here. Then we considered burial alongside the lake but there was a rumour on the grapevine someone would dig up the body and try to sell it on eBay.”

But now that Conningbrook Lake has become a country park it is hoped its famous resident can return.

One option is for a taxidermist to be asked to mount Two Tone on a special plaque for display in a clubhouse, or for him to be put back into the water to decompose naturally.