Councillors have a approved an order that bans barbecues and other activities posing a fire danger to moorland in some parts of Calderdale.

The Public Space Protection Order takes place with immediate effect on huge swathes of Calderdale moorland particularly in the upper Calder Valley where it would take in Rishworth Moor, Moss Moor and Soyland Moor above Ripponden, Warland, Gorpley and Clough Foot above Todmorden, Heptonstall Moor, Wadsworth Moor and Warley Moor around Hebden Bridge and Luddenden Foot, and moorland at Wainstalls and Greetland.

Also backed by partner organisations including West Yorkshire Fire Service, West Yorkshire Police and Natural England, it will be enforced by council staff – including its community safety wardens – supported by the police.

Cabinet member for Public Services and Communities, Coun Susan Press said councillors knew moorland fires were an ever-present risk, highlighted recently with the Saddleworth Moor fire on Calderdale’s border, which focused people’s attention.

Despite two weeks of rain, the experience of previous years and the council’s own declaration of a climate emergency demonstrated out the risks, she said.

Asking Cabinet to implement the order, Coun Press summarised: “What it’s really about is prohibiting things like people lighting barbecues, fireworks, smoking cigarettes – anything that could start a serious fire in our vulnerable areas.”

Anyone caught breaching the proposed Public Spaces Protection Order could find themselves with a fine of up to £100 if authorities reasonably suspect they may have broken the rules or fail to surrender when asked articles, for example matches or a lighter, which produce a naked flame and pose risk of starting a blaze.

The order will protect moorland habitat and it was envisaged the cost to the council – around £5,000 each for extensive signage and the order’s enforcement – would result in changing people’s mindset, eventually reducing the need for enforcement, said Coun Press (Lab, Todmorden)

The order does not seek to prevent access to moorland or stop landowners from managing their land – there are situations outside the summer months in which landowners are permitted to “controlled burn” their land but if this affects protected sites including Sites of Specific Scientific Interest (SSSI), explicit permission from Natural England is required prior to any burning taking place, Cabinet members learned.

The order will initially last for three years.

A consultation on similar plans to ban barbecues and fire on Bradford moorlands ended on Monday, and Bradford Council are expected to implement its own public space protection order imminently.