Evidence removed in cockle raids

Emergency services mounted a huge rescue in Morecambe Bay

Police investigating the deaths of 19 cockle pickers say they have recovered evidence they hope will lead to the gangmasters who employed the victims.

Lancashire Police are continuing to raid properties in the Merseyside area and beyond in search for those responsible for the tragedy.

Det Supt Mick Gradwell said they had found some mostly-Chinese cocklers living in appalling conditions.

The 19 cocklers were caught in fast tides in Morecambe Bay on Thursday.

We are finding people living in appalling conditions Det Supt Mick Gradwell Lancashire Police

Post-mortem examinations, now complete on most of the victims, showed they died from drowning.

Officers believe the group came from the Merseyside area, and raided at least nine addresses in Liverpool on Saturday.

They are expecting to raid further properties as they work through a list of possible gangmasters they believe could be linked to the deaths.

Det Supt Gradwell said officers from both the Lancashire and Merseyside forces had been involved in the raids and expected to make arrests within days.

HAVE YOUR SAY Local calls for better policing of the cocklers and the operations have gone totally unheeded Andrew Clarkson, Lancaster Send us your comments

"I have already expressed my concerns about the conditions in which these people have been made to work," Det Supt Gradwell said.

"We are finding they are living in appalling conditions as well," he added

He described finding up to 40 people living in four or five bedroom houses, with mattresses on the floor, no heating and little food.

The incident has already sparked calls for more protection of migrant workers and strict licensing of cockle pickers.

Police say their first priority is to establish the identity of the victims. They have set up an identification commission, which will meet on Monday.

Morecambe's deadly sands

Some of the victims have already been identified from immigration records, police say.

Although Cantonese and Mandarin translators are helping officers question survivors, police say they are having problems gleaning information about the victims

"We need to work more to reassure these people so they can tell us the full story of what's been happening," Det Supt Gradwell said.

Throughout the investigation police have been keen to stress they are treating both the survivors and those who died as victims not criminals.

"The scale of this inquiry is truly massive. It could take as to all parts of the globe," Det Supt Gradwell added.

"The force is determined to find the people responsible," he said

Seventeen of the dead are men, two are women.

Police issued two numbers in connection with the incident:

For witnesses or those with information - 01524 63333

For worried relatives - 0870 9020999