BRITAIN: I hate him, says the sole survivor.

A SURVIVOR of the Morecambe Bay cockling disaster yesterday said he hated the "cruel" gangmaster who was responsible for his friends' deaths.

Li Hua, the only cockler to be rescued alive from the water on the night of February 5, said Lin Liang Ren was a "mean boss" who exploited the Chinese illegal immigrants for his own profit.

He said the cocklers worked in cold, dark conditions and lived in poor accommodation with "rotten" food. And they died because Lin Liang Ren failed to bring them to shore in time. "I hate him," Li Hua said. "For his own profit he caused so many people to lose their lives."

Speaking through an interpreter, Li Hua, who paid a Snakehead gang the equivalent of pounds 14,000 to come to England, said the cocklers had suffered real hardships. He added: "We worked in conditions of hell, risking our lives trying to make a living in this country. I would say he's a very mean boss to all his workers."

The married father-of-one was pulled from the sea by a lifeboat crew after desperately trying to save his best friend, Wen Ge. The trial jury was shown dramatic footage of Li Hua standing stranded on a sandbank. His friend, whom he called Brother Wen, drowned.