Grouse from scenic Ilkley Moor are expected to be driven over the boundary to private land where licensed hunting takes place each year.

Some of the birds are being 'evicted' because the famous moor has become over-stocked since shooting was banned in 1997.

The main reason for the ban seven years ago by the then Labour-controlled Council was public safety on the popular public beauty spot.

But now there are fears the Ilkley Moor grouse could become weak and diseased unless their numbers are reduced

Later this year experienced 'beaters' will drive mainly older birds over the boundary on to private land on Burley and Bingley moors owned by Edward Bromet, a committee member of the national Moorland Association and its South Pennine representative.

No shoot has been organised on his land for the Glorious Twelfth - the start of the grouse shooting today.

Mr Bromet said today he believed it would be necessary for shooting to be resumed in the future on Ilkley Moor to conserve a healthy grouse population.

Bradford Council's executive member for the environment, Councillor Anne Hawkesworth, said 'beating' was the only option this year but she confirmed other options including shooting would be considered.

An official from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said it was 'ridiculous' to say it might be necessary to kill the birds to protect them.

RSPB conservation officer Tim Melling, who covers the Bradford area, said high numbers of grouse chicks did not survive and there were natural predators, including foxes.

"It is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard to say you are shooting to protect the species."

But Mr Bromet said they had reached a provisional agreement with the council on conservation grounds for grouse to be driven over the boundary later this year.

"It is a very well managed moor and there has been no shooting for a number of years. The grouse have increased and there comes a time when you have too many.

"If they don't have shooting now disease would be likely to spread through the grouse and the population would completely crash and take a long time to come back."

He said the target would be older birds and he hoped shooting would be resumed on Ilkley Moor in future years.

Mr Bromet said shoots would also earn income which could be used on moor management.

Coun Hawkesworth said: "A careful check is kept on the grouse numbers and they have definitely increased. There is now a real risk of disease. There l Continued from Page 1

will have to be management to get the balance right. This was warned about when a decision was made to stop shooting on Ilkley in 1997.

"With no form of culling you will finish up with over-stocking and the birds will become prone to disease. There is the potential for wiping out the grouse population.

"There are now tens of breeding pairs and with each having five or six young grouse you are talking about hundreds on the moor."

The council's countryside and rights of way manager, Danny Jackson, said the large numbers of grouse meant some could become weaker and prone to Strongylosis caused by a parasite worm. They were keeping a close eye because it could spread through the population.

The council has been managing the moor since 1973 and decided in 1997 to stop shooting on the publicly owned part of the moor because of public safety.

The Moorland Association predicted today that Britain's grouse shooters would have a good season starting from today despite the roller coaster of weather conditions. During April and May the weather was dry and warm when the red grouse lay their eggs. But newly hatched chicks had to endure unseasonably cold air and heavy rain for much of June.

Simon Bostock chairman of the Moorland Association said: "As grouse are a completely wild. bird, moor owners carry out careful counts at the start of the season to make sure they have a shootable surplus of birds, leaving enough healthy young stock for following year."

l The Moorland Association is funded by members subscription and is responsible for 700,000 acres of heather moor. The red grouse occupy threequarters of the country's heather moors and are found nowhere else in Britain. The association says grouse shooting conserves both the birds and the heather.