THE FRIENDS of Ilkley Moor have condemned the actions of a 4x4 driver who got stuck on the beauty spot.

The group’s Chair, Owen Wells, was told about the incident by one of the moor’s Countryside Officers on Monday, April 15.

Upon investigation he found a Land Rover that had become stuck in deep mud on the moor top after driving there.

Mr Wells said: “It is the height of irresponsibility to drive on the moor in the middle of the bird nesting season.

“This driver got well and truly stuck and we have no sympathy with him, or her, at all.

“They had driven over a Site of Special Scientific Interest and an officially designated breeding site for several endangered species of birds. There was a humorous aspect in that the Land Rover had a stencil on the back and a sticker from a garage that implied the driver had been on the Dakar Rally - but then got themselves completely stuck, up to its axles in mud, on Ilkley Moor.”