Off-roaders targeted in move to protect county's natural beauty

The problem of 4x4 vehicles and motorbikes destroying the countryside has long been an issue across the county but is said to have intensified recently.

In Nidderdale, a designated area of outstanding beauty, the damage caused has become so severe that campaigners are urging North Yorkshire County Council to impose immediate Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs) to stop entire sections of moorland paths being destroyed.

Michael Bartholomew, of Yorkshire Dales Green Lanes, said one Nidderdale route, known as Deadman's Hill, has been so badly damaged by off-road vehicles that parts were now impassable on foot, but drivers have continued to carve new routes alongside the path.

He said: "What should be a prized feature of a superb landscape has become a playground for motorbikes and 4x4s.

"The peace and tranquillity that most people seek is regularly disturbed during the week and at weekends.

"Over the past few years, the rate of the route's deterioration has sharply increased and lengthy sections have now been utterly destroyed by the passage of recreational motorbikes and 4x4s.

"Strings of motor vehicles are constantly gunning their way up the steep sections of the track and sending their noise reverberating across the reservoir and round the valley."

Leanne Fox, information officer for Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Beauty, said: "The introduction of TROs is welcomed by us as overuse by recreational motor vehicles is causing serious damage to this special landscape. By making these orders it is helping to protect the area for the future."

Traditionally, motor vehicles were allowed to use every footpath which had ever been open to any sort of wheeled transport in England and Wales.

However, this was outlawed in the 2006 Natural Environment Act.

During the consultation period for the Act, the Government agreed that applications could be made up until January 2005 for routes to be kept open to off-roaders.

But, because of this legal loophole, hundreds of applications are still being processed and many historic routes, known as "green lanes", are still being used.

Campaigners say even when Traffic Regulation Orders, which prohibit recreational vehicles from travelling along certain routes where the impact is deemed to be severe, are put in place, the law is still being flouted.

Matt Neale, the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority's area ranger for Upper Wensleydale, who has worked alongside Nidderdale officials and the police to enforce the laws, said: "Off-roading is probably one of the most sensitive issues for national parks in terms of recreation.

"Even a small number of bikes in the wrong place can have a serious effect on both sensitive habitats and the peace and tranquillity of the area ; just two of the special qualities of the national park that so many people come here to experience," he said.

"There is now plenty of information available explaining exactly where off-road enthusiasts can go and what is legally required of them, so there is no excuse for people to ride or drive in areas where they have no legal rights to take recreational vehicles."

North Yorkshire County Council says it will examine the request by Yorkshire Dales Green Lanes to start the process of consultation on installing a Traffic Regulation Order on the route.