A BLOODSPORT will be allowed to continue at one of the district's most famous beauty spots, Bradford Council has ruled.

The shooting of grouse on Ilkley Moor will carry on for another three years, but those running the shoots have now been barred from using traps to kill wildlife.

Those campaigning on both sides of the debate have claimed the decision as a partial victory.

A controversial ten-year arrangement allows the Bingley Moor Partnership to shoot grouse on the Council-owned moor until 2018, and is worth up to £10,000 a year for the authority.

But anti-shooting group Ban Bloodsports on Ilkley Moor (BBIM) last year handed in a petition calling for the shoot to be axed, which sparked today's review.

The Council's Executive unanimously decided to allow the arrangement to run its course, but agreed to ban the trapping of grouse predators such as stoats and weasels.

Edward Bromet, chairman of the Bingley Moor Partnership, which also helps to manage the moor, said: "We are absolutely delighted. It is an entirely sensible decision.

"What it will do is conserve Ilkley Moor properly for the future."

Mr Bromet said the ban on trapping animals on the moor would have little consequence, as the partnership was no longer using such traps.

He said: "We don't mind at all about the trapping on the moor. We already stopped it some months ago anyway."

Luke Steele, spokesman for BBIM, said: "We welcome the progress that has been made to remove the trapping from Ilkley Moor, but we condemn the decision that has been made to continue the shoot until 2018."

He said the group would not be giving up its fight and would continue to carry out protests designed to disrupt the shoots.

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