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Moorland Damage

Date: 21.02.2012

Staff from Denbighshire Countryside Service have criticised a group of individuals who caused damage to moorland above the Dee Valley by recklessly driving 4x4 vehicles there without permission.

The Council's countryside team have restored a number of areas of damaged heather moorland on the Llantysilio mountains, around three quarters of an acre of land was restored in 2010 alongside the Moel y Faen quarry near the Ponderosa Cafe above Llangollen and it was recovering with grass and a little heather beginning to grow in places.

However, following this recent incident, the grass has been removed by tyres in places, soil has been churned up and there are tyre tracks going all the way up the restored area.

Nick Critchley, Moorland Field Officer for the Heather and Hillforts Project, said: 'It is heartbreaking to see our efforts so badly damaged in an instant. The Countryside Service has been working tirelessly with officers from North Wales Police to tackle problems with off-roaders using vehicles illegally in the area and we have had some considerable success.

"We have also worked closely with volunteers, conservation and off-road user groups to repair damage caused by off-road vehicles and we are due to follow up our original restoration work by spreading more heather this Spring.

'However, the latest incident shows the message simply isn't getting through to a minority of individuals who think it's appropriate to damage our countryside. Heather moorland is internationally rare, is home to a number of rare species, is important agricultural land for many farmers and crucially is very slow growing. It takes many years for areas damaged in this way to recover - we must work together to tackle this anti-social behaviour.'

'We would encourage off-road vehicle users to ensure they know where they can drive legally before they set out, and urge other users of the countryside to contact the Police on 101 if they see vehicles being used beyond the network of roads and byways available to off-road vehicles.'

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