Local cocklers say they are being denied a rich harvest

Two tractors, a trailer and a lorry owned by Colin Bryden from Dumfries were confiscated as 12 men worked on beds closed to cocklers.

Mr Bryden said they were there to protest at gangs coming from outside the area and working illegally.

Twenty cocklers from Morecambe Bay became stranded early on Sunday.

The local cocklers claim the authorities have targeted them while turning a blind eye to visiting gangs from England and Wales.

They're allowing them to take the cockles with them at night and we come here today and then this happens Solway cockler

The Solway cockle fishery was closed to vessels in 1992, to tractor dredges in 1995 and to all forms of cockling in 2002 to protect stocks and permit regeneration.

The draft Solway Regulating Order, which proposes reopening the area subject to regulations, is subject to an inquiry which is expected to be completed at the end of the month.

Local cocklers are angry at the length of time it is taking to reopen the area, saying they are missing a rich harvest.

Disaster fears

Gangs from the south have fished the Solway regularly this summer under cover of darkness, raising fears of a Morecambe Bay type disaster, where 20 Chinese cocklers were cut off by the tide and drowned.

Dumfries-based cocklers went out in protest on Thursday but fisheries protection officers seized their equipment.

One cockler told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme: "There's accidents and everything happening out there at night time, but nobody's getting charged for it.

"They're allowing them to take the cockles with them at night and we come here today and then this happens, which is not right."

Environment Minister Ross Finnie has pledged to prosecute anyone caught cockling illegally.