A meeting of the North York Moors National Park Authority the government is consulting on whether to restrict the use of motor vehicles on unsealed unclassified roads (UURs) in forthcoming legislation, following several decades of damage to some of the park’s 201 routes by off-road vehicles.

Green lanes campaigner Clive Proctor told the meeting the use of off-road motorbikes and 4x4s on the green lanes caused environmental damage, significant noise pollution, nuisance and deep rutting, resulting in a loss of amenity for mobility vehicle users, walkers, horse riders and cyclists.

He told members the presumption that all UURs have motor vehicle rights “discriminates against those of us who live near routes that are unlikely to have such rights”.

Mr Proctor said of the 201 UURs in the park, originating from cart roads, droves and packhorse routes, none have had any motor vehicle rights proven and 165 of them had been identified as “highly vulnerable”.

He said while the park authority’s survey of the impacts of motorised vehicles on nine of the UURs in 2014 had led to a recommendation to bar motor vehicles from all nine routes, since that time only one route had seen a ban imposed and moves to ban vehicles from some UUCs had taken more than seven years.

Former Victorian railway landmark to be transformed into urban park in Leeds

The authority’s longest-serving member, David Jeffels, added: “What we are seeing is almost criminal activity being carried by the thoughtless people who are not locals causing very extensive damage in our national park.”

Expressing fury over the situation, member Bob Marley told the meeting he had never met any sensible off-road enthusiasts in 30 years and that they caused upset on a daily basis, sometimes threatening residents.

He said: “People’s lives are being made an absolute misery.”

The meeting heard the authority recognised the potential legitimate rights of motorised vehicle users to access UURs, but would be sympathetic to introducing restrictions “on quite a few of the routes”.

Members were told the authority believed the powers it already had needed to be simplified as it had proved very difficult to get motor bans approved.

Officers said a blanket ban rather than targeting individual lanes could be counter-productive in many ways and would make the UURs more difficult to police.

The meeting heard that rather than dealing with the destruction of green lanes on “an occasional crisis management basis” it could seize the opportunity with the formation of a new North Yorkshire unitary authority to deal with issues on a daily basis.

The authority’s chairman Jim Bailey said the authority would prefer to work with highways authorities and take a targeted, site-specific approach towards restrictions. He added it supported North Yorkshire County Council in only implementing bans on motor vehicles when other management techniques had failed.

Green laners: Call for blanket ban on motorised vehicles on rural lanes