Filey and Redcar operation targets illegal shellfish picking

GLAA investigators were on the lookout at Redcar beach as part of the operation

A number of people suspected of gathering shellfish illegally have been stopped during an operation along a stretch of the Yorkshire coast.

Investigators from the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) carried out a four-day investigation in Filey and Redcar earlier this month.

They were looking for unsafe working practices and potential gangmaster offences, the GLAA said.

Several people were spoken to and one interviewed under caution, it added.

The investigators were checking for people controlling workers without a GLAA licence on a coast with unpredictable tides, hazardous rock pools and exposed cliffs, it said.

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The GLAA said this was not a "one-off" but they would continue to monitor the coastline

As well as the safety of the workers, their concern is that shellfish, crabs and lobsters unfit for human consumption could enter the food chain.

The authority said further visits would be made to restaurants and takeaway outlets across the UK where some of the shellfish is believed to have ended up.

Ian Waterfield, of the GLAA, said: "Many of you will remember the Morecambe Bay tragedy in 2004 and we were set up to ensure that illegal gangmasters could never again exploit vulnerable workers and cause loss of life on such a scale as that."

Twenty-three Chinese cockle pickers drowned in February 2004 when caught by the incoming tide in the dark, while working in the waters of Morecambe Bay.

Mr Waterfield added the agency would continue to monitor the coastline for any criminal behaviour.