A SURVIVOR of the Morecambe Bay cockling tragedy told a jury how English people had set on fire bags of shellfish picked by the Chinese workers.

Witness and survivor of the disaster, Lin Guo, told Preston Crown Court how bags of cockles left on the shoreline for collection were doused in diesel.

Five defendants are standing trial in connection with the tragedy, which claimed the lives of at least 21 Chinese cocklers in February 2004.

Among the defendants is Lin Liang Ren, 29, of Liverpool, who denies 21 counts of manslaughter.

Under cross-examination by John Bromley-Davenport, who is defending Lin Liang Ren, Mr Lin Guo told how there had been arguments between the Chinese cocklers and "English people."

The police had become involved in the disputes in the weeks running up to the tragedy, he said.

"On several occasions, the English people threw diesel on to the cockles that the Chinese had worked so hard to pick," he said.

Lin Guo denied that on one occasion, a group of Chinese cocklers had chased an English man - who they suspected setting fire to their cockles - armed with rakes.

But he added that the Chinese cocklers had been "angry" when they saw their work being set on fire. And he told how a Chinese cockler had chased a man he suspected of setting fire to the cockles on a motorbike.

He also denied that one of the reasons why the cocklers had gone out on to the sands so late on the night of the tragedy was to avoid conflict with English people. He said that it was "because of the tides," that the cocklers had gone out so late.

Mr Bromley-Davenport accused Lin Guo of only mentioning Lin Liang Ren as the boss of the cockling gangs, in a police interview, when he was told his immigration status was safe in November 2004.

Earlier in the trial, Lin Guo had told how he had been smuggled into Britain in late 2003 and had been asked to work as a cockle picker by a friend Mr Bromley-Davenport claimed that Lin Guo had been told by the police that he could stay in the UK until May 2006, and that after that the police would tell the immigration service he had been a prosecution witness.

"For that status, you were prepared to lie about Lin Liang Ren's role in this matter," he said.

Mr Lin denied this was true.