DAMAGE to moorland surrounding Keighley and the Worth Valley is set to worsen due to the annual burning season, warn anti-blood sports activists.

The campaign groups claim widespread environmental damage has been inflicted onmoorland leased by Yorkshire Water for grouse shooting.

The League Against Cruel Sports and Ban Bloodsports on Yorkshire’s Moors say heather on Keighley Moor, Stanbury Moor and Haworth Moor is being set on fire to control the habitat and increase game bird populations for the guns.

Yorkshire Water this week hit back at the campaigners with an explanation of its activities on the moors.

The campaigners say investigations show that large sections of threatened peatland habitat - including Sites of Special Scientific Interest - have been damaged during previous burning seasons.

They claimburning has been conducted unlawfully across watercourses and gullies, polluting and eroding catchments feeding water into Yorkshire Water’s reservoirs and harming habitat necessary for nesting birds of prey.

They claim drainage and grouse shooting butts have been dug into rare blanket bog and roadways carved into the hillside to convey shooting parties, leaving sensitive habitat degraded.

They also say that on Stanbury Moor the remains of wildlife animals were left rotting in ‘bone-crushing’ traps, designed to eradicate stoats and weasels preserve grouse shooting parties.

A Yorkshire Water spokesman said: “Heather burning is still a legitimate land-management tool but we are working with all upland stakeholders to re-wet the moors and reduce the dominance of heather.

“Contrary to the claims made, we are not allowing our land to be drained and have worked alongside landowners to block hundreds of kilometres of drains to help restore moorland.

“We are also actively involved in restoring the functionality of blanket bog, by cutting heather and inoculating with peat forming sphagnum moss.

“There are significant areas of our land where we don’t control the shooting rights and therefore where we have no control over shooting activities.

“However, working in partnership with all stakeholders means we have been able to make meaningful improvements to water quality and the environment in these areas.”