A FORMER top West Yorkshire police officer is to get tough on Britain's gangmasters.

And Paul Whitehouse warned supermarkets could be "named and shamed" if their suppliers continue using unlicensed labour bosses.

The warning came from the former Deputy Chief Constable of West Yorkshire, who is expected to chair the new Gangmasters Licensing Authority.

The watchdog will, for the first time, regulate gangmasters who supply farms and the shellfish industry.

It will develop and operate a licensing scheme, set licensing conditions and maintain a register of licensed labour providers.

Mr Whitehouse's comments come just over a year since the Morecambe Bay tragedy when 23 Chinese cockle-pickers drowned in rising tides. Only 21 bodies have been recovered.

Four men and a woman are due to go on trial in September this year, charged in connection with the incident.

The new authority, which begins work on April 1, will have little power over supermarkets as the offence of employing an unlicensed gangmaster will apply mainly to packing houses and farmers.

But Mr Whitehouse warned that supermarkets could be in trouble for aiding and abetting the illegal use of labour if they had been warned about a supplier.

"I'm a great believer in people I deal with knowing I have the power to make them work within the law, without necessarily having to use it," he said.

Mr Whitehouse said supermarkets must ensure the price they pay farmers and suppliers covers an acceptable wage for workers.

"If we make sure that supermarkets factor this into their pricings, they will accept that they will have to pay the farmer a bit more," he said.

Mr Whitehouse said: "Supermarkets have got it in their own interests to ensure they have contracts which ensure legality as they don't want to be fingered as people who exploit labour at whatever point in the delivery chain."