Redcar and Cleveland Council has become the latest local authority to call on the Government to re-open an investigation into mass crustacean deaths on the North-East coast.

Council members unanimously backed a motion which demanded an investigation be re-opened after a lengthy debate in which an amendment was put forward and the wording of the motion eventually agreed.

The results of a Defra-led study published in May suggested a harmful algal bloom may have been a factor in the deaths at Seaton Carew, South Gare, Redcar, Marske and Saltburn, which began in October last year, although no single causation was identified.

It said because healthy crabs and lobsters were now being found, the investigation could be closed.

Protests have though continued with a report that was commissioned by fishing industry representatives noting high levels of the chemical pyridine in the area.

Defra has ruled out chemical pollution with a review of dredging and water samples also finding no link between the disposal of dredged sediment and the deaths.

The motion, moved by former Redcar and Cleveland Council Labour group leader Carl Quartermain and seconded by Saltburn councillor Philip Thomson said local councils in the Tees Valley should commission a new independent report and special scrutiny committees be set up by each to examine any further developments.

It said the Government should “provide proper compensation for the lost income and livelihoods caused by this crisis” and examine the possibility of creating a coastal hatchery to replenish crustacean stocks.

Cllr Quartermain’s motion received cross party support.

Councillor Barry Hunt said: “We need to give the fishermen every support we can to find out the truth and I still believe there is something wrong.”

Councillor Sue Jeffrey said: “What’s important is a local-led inquiry that is completely independent.

“We’re not doing this on our own, Middlesbrough Council have already passed a motion calling for a local inquiry and Hartlepool Council are doing the same today, we could work together with them and the costs could be shared between us.

“We need to ensure for the purposes of the fishing industry and the communities who live alongside the seashore and for all our visitors that this is done properly and independently and scrutinised by us as members.”

Councillor Alec Brown said: “We’ve all seen the heartbreaking scenes, walked down our beaches and seen these things piled two feet high – my little girl had tears in her eyes.

“As a very worried resident of the town, we need to make sure this does not happen again.”

Cllr Thomson said: “There is general consensus in the chamber that we have a major issue here.

“We know from the stats that the level of pyridine found in crustaceans off the North-East coast is 70 times higher than that found in Cornwall.

“All of the historic misuses of the Tees waters are still with us inherited in the silt in the Tees.

“The need to have this investigation is well founded.”

A spokesman for Defra previously said: “Defra and partner agencies completed a thorough investigation into the cause of dead crabs and lobsters found washed up on the North-east coast between October and December 2021 and concluded that a naturally occurring harmful algal bloom was the most likely cause of the incident. 

“We ruled out a number of potential causes including chemical pollution, sewage, animal disease, and dredging.”