MOVES are afoot to entice cocklers away from using a train crossing at Kents Bank in a bid to avoid chaotic scenes that caused misery for residents last year.

South Lakeland District Council is in talks with several partners, believed to be Holker Estates and English Nature, to open another access route to cockle beds at Pilling and Flookburgh, if they reopen next month.

A resident of Kents Bank wrote to Grange Town Council, which met on Monday, expressing fears that problems suffered by the small community because of cockling would return.

The Gazette reported how gangs of up to 300 cocklers descended on Kents Bank for around two months to access beds, bringing with them traffic congestion, rubbish and nuisance.

Residents blamed a new permit system introduced by Holker Estates that meant cocklers had to pay to access the beds.

Cocklers unwilling to pay had to use the crossing at Kents Bank. Fears were also raised that vehicles using the crossing could cause an accident on a railway line that carried passengers and freight, including nuclear waste.

Network Rail closed the crossing to prevent the problem but reopened it earlier this year in the wake of the ban on cockling in Morecambe Bay.

A Network Rail spokesman confirmed that the crossing would not be closed again.

Mark Richardson, environmental manager at SLDC, said that talks were under way to find a solution, taking into consideration both residents and cocklers.