LEADING agencies from across the country met in Cumbria this week to discuss how to deal with an expected influx of people involved in harvesting cockles.

From Monday (May 17), cockle beds in the Duddon Estuary will be opened for harvesting for the first time in many years.

And it is believed that several hundred people from across the UK and further afield could potentially come to Cumbria to work the beds.

But a multi-agency response is being put in place with a stern warning to those who break the law or cause environmental damage.

Assistant Chief Constable Graham Sunderland, of Cumbria Constabulary, said: "Our duty is to ensure that those who have a perfect entitlement to gather the cockles, do so safely and with full regard to the local environment and local people.

"But we do not want to see those who come to Cumbria with the intention of committing offences, causing problems in local communities, or destroying protected habitats.

"Appropriate action will be taken against those guilty of such behaviour."

Mr Sunderland's message comes after a meeting in Penrith was attended by around 30 representatives from agencies including Cumbria Constabulary, the Immigration Service and English Nature.

Fisheries experts have announced that the cockle beds in the Duddon Estuary are not as extensive or as profitable for large-scale harvesting as reports in the media have suggested.

Mr Sunderland added: "Those involved in cockling may be coming to this county with the expectation of rich pickings, but if they break the law, it could prove costly for them."

Meanwhile, the National Trust is asking visitors to stay away from Roanhead for the next three weeks when the cockle beds off Askam-in-Furness will be open.

The trust says that traffic from the cockling organisations is expected to be heavy and busy and visitors are likely to find the area unduly crowded.

Educational visits to the area are being cancelled and the charity is also concerned about the impact on the wildlife at Sandscale Haws, which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, a National Nature Reserve and home to one of the UK's rarest species the natterjack toad.