Ancient hillforts and burial chambers that withstood the Roman occupation are now under siege from a biker blitzkrieg sweeping across the uplands in Denbighshire.
Rare species and their priceless habitats are also being illegally endangered and damaged by off-road motorbikes and 4x4s.
But now a concerted campaign, catchphrase ‘don’t leave home without it’, led by Denbighshire Countryside Services is encouraging farmers, ramblers and others who enjoy the county’s wide open spaces to carry a special telephone number with them – or even key it into their mobile phones – to report the vandals.
They are appealing for the public’s help in catching and convicting the offenders who are liable to be fined up to £20,000 and can have their vehicles seized and crushed.
That Police telephone number – 0845 6071002 or 0845 6071001 for Welsh language callers – means that anyone seeing illegal off-roaders tearing up the landscape can immediately report them.
Denbighshire County Council’s Heather and Hillforts Project covers the Clwydian Range Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the Horseshoe Pass and Llantysilio Mountain, part of the Ruabon/Llantysilio Mountains and Minera Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and the Berwyn and South Clwyd Mountains Special Area of Conservation (SAC).
The campaign to protect them is backed by North Wales Police, the Countryside Council for Wales and the Forestry Commission Wales.
The Heather and Hillforts Project’s Moorland Field Officer, Nick Critchley, said: “We have a fantastic natural environment here which is under threat but we are fighting back.
“We are urging people who go out in our countryside to carry this number with them so they can blow the whistle on this illegal, dangerous and damaging menace – the message is don’t leave home without it.”
In the past both the Countryside Services and North Wales Police have adopted an educational approach to inform and persuade bikers to keep off sensitive areas but now the gloves are coming off.
“We are going to look more to enforcement,” promised Nick: “That can mean bikes and vehicles being seized and crushed and offenders being liable to fines of up to £20,000.
“We need people to report these illegal activities so we can catch the culprits red-handed.”
Sergeant Jon Turton, of North Wales Police, based in Denbigh, said: “We can use the force helicopter to track them and that’s where we’ve had most of our success.
“The area is so huge and it can be very difficult but it’s much less easy for them if the helicopter is there and can call us in on the ground.
“We’ve got people coming in on motorbikes, quad bikes and 4x4s and they’re not just from round here. At weekends it’s a destination for organised groups from the Midlands and the North West – even Milton Keynes.
“Lots of people go off-roading perfectly legally on land provided for it by farmers and landowners but here it is dangerous and damaging – you can see the evidence of what they’ve done on Google Earth.”
The whole area covered by the Heather and Hillforts Campaign provides habitat for rare species like the black grouse as well as important grazing for sheep.
Nick Critchley explained: “People first created this environment thousands of years ago when man cleared these uplands for grazing and keeping it open for grazing is vital.
“Half of the world’s heather moorland is in the UK and in Wales we’ve lost 40 per cent of it since the Second World War.
“Without sheep on these hills it would quickly revert to woodland and this important habitat would be lost forever.
“Off-roaders cause problems by damaging walls and fences and they can herd sheep the length of the mountain so a farmer might have to collect sheep miles form where he left them.
“On Llantysilio Mountains, illegal bikers have created a race track that is damaging the ramparts of an Iron Age hill fort at Moel y Gaer that was here before the Romans arrived and the track crosses a Bronze Age burial mound that is over 4,000 years old.”
Sergeant Turton added: “We have changed priorities so that we can deploy police forces now to tackle this problem.
“It is antisocial behaviour. It’s not happening in an urban setting but it’s just as bad.
“It’s affecting the peace and well-being and the livelihood of people who live, work and visit this lovely area.
“We do have the power to seize vehicles and have them crushed and we have done just that – we will use whatever powers we have whether it is through the Road Traffic Act or the Wildlife and Countryside Act.”
Heledd Jones, Conservation Officer for the Countryside Council for Wales, said: “We want these people to realise that they are damaging internationally important fragile habitats, as well as affecting the habitat of upland birds such as the black grouse which depends on the heather moorland for feeding and nesting.
“We will be watching them and hope that if more incidents are reported more prosecutions will be made and we will be able to stamp this out.
“But it is something we need law-abiding people to help us with by carrying the number with them when they go out in the countryside and using it to report this vandalism.”
Nick Critchley added: “There is a network of roads suitable for road-legal off-road capable vehicles and this information can be found on Ordnance Survey maps and through local authorities.
“We would encourage non-road registered bike users to join clubs and enter organised events or use their nearest official practice track.
“But anyone witnessing illegal activity in north Wales should report it to the police on the Police Incident telephone number 0845 6071002 (welsh language: 0845 6071001). Don’t leave home without it.”
The three year Heather and Hillforts Project is developing a £2.3 million initiative for upland conservation work and has received a grant of £1.5 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund. For more information please visit www.heatherandhillforts.co.uk
The Project’s progress can be followed on Twitter and Facebook by visiting www.twitter.com/HeatherHillfort or joining the Heather and Hillforts Facebook group.
