North York Moors: Offroaders used chainsaws to break into ancient site and cause more damage
The Iron Age enclosure, in Wykeham Forest, near Hackness, Scarborough, has been repeatedly targeted, with four-wheel drive vehicles returning with a chainsaw to cut through trees which had been felled in a bid to block access.
The damage was first spotted at the site in early December by members of Scarborough Archaeological Society.
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Hide AdSteps were taken to try and protect the site, which is in the North York Moors National Park, but when officials returned last week they found it had been to no avail.


The settlement, which is thought to date back some 2,500 years, consists of a large rectangular enclosure surrounded by a ditch.
But vehicles have been driven over the earth banks and ditches during or after wet weather and have caused severe rutting, churn-up and disturbance to the ground.
One of the ancient banks has been eroded down to the rubble core.
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Hide AdMiles Johnson, Head of Historic Environment at the North York Moors National Park Authority, said they’d gathered evidence at the site which they hope to use to identify the suspects.


He said it was astonishing the lengths people had gone to get back into the clearly blocked area.
Mr Johnson said: "I suspect it’s a small group of people and this is now part of one of their regular routes. It was depressing seeing that they’d chainsawed through the logs and clearly come equipped.
"The damage covers a corner of the site, maybe 10 to 15 per cent of the monument’s area, and some of that is really severe.
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Hide Ad"I’m sure it’s fun riding up and down the banks but it’s irreplaceable and once it’s gone it’s gone forever. It has lost that bit of history.”


It comes after Cadw, the Welsh government's historic environment service, said it was working with local residents and police to tackle a "devastating" and "very prevalent" problem of off-road bikers, who have been using ancient monuments across the region, as ramps and racetracks.
Driving a vehicle, including a car, quad bike or motorcycle, off-road without permission of the landowner is an offence.
Damage to a Scheduled Monument is also a criminal offence under the 1979 Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas act.
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Hide AdKatie Thorn, Historic Environment Advisor at Forestry England, said: “We manage over 200 scheduled monuments on Forestry England land in Yorkshire.
"Illegal off roading is detrimental to the management of these important sites.
"Working closely with North York Moors National Park Authority and Historic England we are aiming to repair the site to ensure it survives for future generations.”
North Yorkshire Police is asking anyone with information to contact them on 101.
Both Wykeham and Langdale Forests have faced "significant" damage from vehicles in the past.
The force said they did regular patrols to try and protect the sites.