Police see if anything fishy is taking place at Hill Head beach amid cockle-picking reports - causing 'upset'

Officers attended the beach line across Hill Head at low tide over the weekend - leaving some ‘upset’ on social media.

In what was described as a ‘new one for me’ by PC Squibb as he rounded-up actions from the weekend in a Facebook post, he said: ‘The main concerns around this are, firstly, the environment, if we allow large scale pickings to continue.

‘There are also concerns for the welfare of those who are involved in the picking, are they vulnerable or exploited workers?

‘To understand what is happening, we must go to these locations to see for ourselves. I know this seems to have caused upset on social media, however we have a duty to understand the concerns which have been raised and safeguard the vulnerable and tackle any crimes identified.’

In other matters, officers carried out high visibility foot and vehicle patrols across both Fareham and Gosport to tackle ongoing anti-social behaviour.

Intelligence was gathered and one person was detained for a drug search.

The police strategy to tackle Violence Against Women and Girls saw additional patrols on Saturday. ‘We identified patrol areas from our research, and information provided by local councils which highlighted additional potential risks,’ PC Squibb said.

‘Long term, we will continue to work alongside our local councils to make improvements to any environmental factors.’

Officers also recovered a stolen moped, which will be reunited with its owner in the coming days. ‘A real positive result for the owner,’ the post added.

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