HUNDREDS of cockle-pickers who converged on Southport beach were last night warned of the dangers posed by the Ribble Estuary.

The town’s MP voiced fears at the number of fishermen descending on the resort after the cockle harvest opened yesterday for the first time since the 2004 Morecambe Bay tragedy.

Rumours of rapid riches to be made have prompted fears of unlicensed gangmasters exploiting migrants to work under the cover of darkness in the Pinfold Channel.

A huge operation to ensure safety is being led by police, the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA) and Merseyside Fire and Rescue, which has moved its hovercraft to Southport for the duration of the harvest window.

Coastguards at Southport Off-Shore Rescue said they were patrolling the bays to avoid a repeat of the Morecambe tragedy, when unpredictable tides killed 21 Chinese workers.

Lib-Dem MP John Pugh said he was concerned by the “armies of cocklers from all over Britain” who are plundering the sand banks.

More than 450 licences were issued to allow the harvesting of tens of thousands of tonnes of cockles.

Dr Pugh said: “The people taking the cockles are allowed a free-for-all.

“They can take as much of the harvest as they can carry before the tide comes in and makes it impossible to continue.

“Some of the best harvest is likely to be on banks which are only reachable by boat, even at low tide.

“Inexperienced people hoping to make a quick buck may take to the water in unsafe vessels in all sorts of sea conditions.

“At the other end of the scale, three large foreign vessels have already appeared off these banks, presumably taking a huge haul of cockles directly to Spain, France, Germany and beyond with no benefit at all to the local economy.

“With the fast tides and sinking sands, cockling is a potential disaster if not overseen well.”

The North West and North Wales Fisheries Committee, which oversees the harvest and issues licences, admitted the sands and channels of the Ribble are “highly dangerous”.

A spokesman said: ”We are working with other regulatory bodies to implement a comprehensive plan for managing the Ribble fishery.

“We expect that several hundred fishers may attempt to fish but the stocks available to hand-gatherers are not huge and fishers may be disappointed.”

Shrimper Christian Peet, who runs award-winning Southport Seafoods, will not be able to join the rush after being told no permits were available until 2013.

Despite calls that local fishermen should be given priority, officials said such a move would “discriminate”.