Council officials have mooted a plan to create a dedicated cocklers park on Furness shores to cut conflict between the pickers and the public.

South Lakeland District Council's assistant director for environmental health Chris Fidler said he wanted to establish a single access point for cocklers heading onto the sands at Bardsea.

"We are looking to segregate cockling because we can't stop people accessing what is a public fishery," he said. "It's about trying to manage the impact on everybody."

The idea is for a car parking area with litter bins and perhaps toilet facilities to tempt the cocklers to congregate there rather than elsewhere along the Coast Road. It would be similar to that established by Barrow Borough Council at Duddon Road, Askam-in-Furness. At the Duddon Road car park, skips and toilets were laid on and cocklers largely respected police and council instructions to access the sands from that point and not the environmentally sensitive area at nearby Roa Island.

Phil Newton, the borough council's commercial services team leader, said there were "very few" complaints from Askam residents.

It is hoped a similar South Lakeland set-up would save the council money by keeping the mess generated by the cocklers in one place and minimise disruption to tourists and locals.

Dealing with cocklers and cleaning up the foreshore of discarded cockle bags and other rubbish has so far cost SLDC £26,000 a bill it wants to cut.

Mr Fidler said: "I think this could save money, it could help other agencies, the local authority and local people. The Barrow experience shows if you get it right and have somewhere they can use, the reaction from the public is more one of tolerance than complaint."

But there has been a mixed reaction in Bardsea.

Village resident Frankie Abbott said: "It's not fair that we rate-payers subsidise cocklers who are making a fortune out of the cockling and the council can't event afford to keep Bardsea's public toilet open."

SLDC councillor for Low Furness and Swarthmoor David Food agreed that cocklers and not tax-payers should pick up the bill for their facilities, but in the absence of regulation to make the industry pay, the council could think of no alternative.

"This is a way of trying to reduce the impact. To keep them in one spot away from tourists and residents we have to make it worth their while, that means providing facilities for litter, car parking and perhaps toilets."

Mr Fidler said SLDC was considering both non-council land and an area it owned between Bardsea's ice cream stand and Kingfisher Chemicals.

"Bardsea is one place we are looking and further afield," said Mr Fidler, adding: "I'm still investigating potential sites, until then its all pretty much speculation. It may not be successful."