THE cause of mass crab deaths on the coast has caused a heated debate in the House of Commons.

Research by academics, backed by the fishing industry had suggested the incident could have been caused by industrial pollutant pyridine.

Mark Spencer, Minister of State at the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), told MPs that scientists are “ready to jump into action at great speed” to try to establish the facts if a repeat mass die-off of marine life occurs on the coastline.

Sir Bernard Jenkin, MP for Harwich and north Essex, expressed disappointment at many of the exchanges in the Commons.

He said: “There’s clearly a huge breakdown of trust about this.

“May I just counsel Mr Spencer that he’s got to recognise that Defra has lost that trust, certainly of local fishermen and local people.

“he’s just got to go back to the beginning and start again, get everybody into a quiet room and see if there can be an agreement about finding a way forward

“This kind of argy-bargy, will inspire no public confidence at all and that’s what’s lacking at the moment.”