A MASS invasion of cocklers planning to work the Duddon Estuary beds was thwarted after a major operation swung into action, reports Ellis Butcher.

As the beds were declared open again, a multi-agency operation took place aimed at limiting numbers, issuing safety advice and monitoring activity on the sands.

With around 400 cocklers expected, checkpoints were set up opposite the South Lakes Wild Animal Park on the A590 in an effort to control the predicted influx.

But as the high tide drained away from Askam and Roanhead, around a dozen fishermen arrived to find officials waiting for them.

Discussions about competency ensued and safety packs were handed out by the Health and Safety Executive. The National Trust and the North Western and North Wales Sea Fisheries Committee were also on hand.

Police, Department of Works and Pension officials and representatives from the Immigration Service manned strategic checkpoints, with three individuals spoken to in respect of benefits, and one driver was prevented from continuing his journey due to faults with his vehicle.

Cumbria Police spokesman Mike Smith said: "We were concerned about the numbers being talked about anecdotally and there was the concern the impact that could have had in those areas. The fact we got so few meant it was much more manageable.

"We would like to think, that maybe part of that was due to the work we did in advance by publicising what we were doing."

Others officials suggested that, in addition to the operation, cocklers stayed away because of the small quantity and condition of the shellfish in the beds, along with the difficulties in transporting them away from the two areas.

The estimations are that the beds contain around 300 to 500 tonnes, compared to the several thousand tonnes there were at Aldingham, Bardsea and off Hest Bank.

One cockler, who spoke with an East Anglian accent but refused to be named, said the arrival of labour into an area could benefit the local economy.

"I have bought clothes since I have been here, I've bought tide tables, fishing tackle, tyres for a trailer. We've got digs, you have a pint in the evening, and really, you spend more than the locals because if you haven't got something when you're here, you have to buy it."

Peter Hamer, of the Health and Safety Executive, was among those issuing information packs that have been sent to buyers, labour organisers and individual cocklers. He said an outbreak of "Yellow Coat fever" from the authorities had deterred many cocklers, explaining: "We have no issue with those that are bona fide and want to come and do it sensibly but where people are coming without the knowledge, the kit, the information and doing things like riding quad bikes around, we are trying to do something about it."

"If they had come in the numbers reported, it would not have lasted very long," he added. "There are not enough cockles out there to sustain it. It's only ten lorry loads and that would have been worked out very quickly."

At Roanhead, which was expected to bear the brunt of the cockling, concerns were high that the popular beauty spot and important nature site could not sustain being overrun.

Housing a quarter of Britain's natterjack toad population, considered the richest two-kilometre square area for wild flowers in the whole of Cumbria and a near neighbour to 530 species of plants, the need to manage the site was evident.

National Trust warden Peter Burton said the cockles were of a poorer quality than those at other key cockling sites, and needed to be heat treated and purified quickly, which could have dissuaded some pickers and buyers.