HEALTH and safety fears are hampering attempts to harvest up to 3,000 tonnes of cockles near Pembroke, said to be worth £2m.

More than 20 cockle pickers held a protest at the foreshore at Bentlass yesterday (Wednesday) over problems with an application to harvest cockle beds at Pembroke river.

Samples from cockle beds must be tested and passed fit for human consumption before they can be commercially harvested.

However, Pembrokeshire County Council say the sample points, which are 400 and 700 metres from the shore are too far out to be tested safely. A spokesman said: "The officers who have to take the samples feel it would be highly dangerous to take samples so far from the shore because of the mud.

"We have had discussions with the Coastguard Agency and Mud Rescue Team from Llansteffan who said they can only rescue people 200 metres from the shore, so the officers are going to be out of range of rescue."

The cockle pickers have offered to take the samples themselves but the county council has refused because they would be liable for the cocklers' health and safety.

Another application to harvest cockles at Angle Bay is progressing and samples have already been taken from the site.

Business pressure group the Forum of Private Business (FPB) is angry at the delay and says unless the application process is speeded up and the cockles harvested, the beds will die out.

Alison Fletcher, FPB Head of Policy said: "It is clear that an opportunity exists for local businesses to make the most of a valuable and much sought-after natural resource. We are calling on the authorities involved to do all they can to quickly resolve the issue and let businesses get on with earning a living."

Local FPB member Rory Parsons added: "It's ridiculous, we have local business owners trying to make an honest living who are being prevented from doing so by inefficiency and indecision from the local authority."