FRAUD investigators yesterday swooped on suspected benefit cheats working illegally as mussel pickers in Morecambe Bay.

Some were believed to have travelled from Wirral as well as from Wales and Lancaster.

Officers from the Department for Work and Pensions led a joint operation with Cumbria Police to catch fraudsters claiming benefits while harvesting beds at Rampside, near Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria.

Operation Seasalter checked the identity of local workers after intelligence suggested fraudsters were undermining legitimate local fishermen.

Anti-Fraud Minister Chris Pond said: "We took action because intelligence showed evidence of illegal working and black economy fraud in the area.

"Our recent research shows that the public are fed up with cheats who steal money from the taxpayer that should go to those in genuine need of help."

Inspectors questioned mussel pickers as they left the beds to confirm their identity, while others checked for separate offences such as holding invalid vehicle road tax and the use of agricultural red diesel.

Earlier this year, 23 Chinese cockle pickers drowned while working in Morecambe Bay. Only 21 bodies have been recovered.

The victims were all from the Fujian and Liaoning provinces of China.

Three people last week appeared in court in connection with the deaths.

Two men and a woman, all from the Liverpool area, appeared at Lancaster Magistrates' Court to face a variety of charges including manslaughter, conspiracy to commit facilitation and conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.