Heavy rain has caused a massive landslide just yards from a world-famous Bront shrine.

Hundreds of tonnes of peat and debris swept down Haworth Moor close to Top Withens.

The dramatic incident, believed to have been sparked by last week's storm, has destroyed a large section of the moor once trodden by the legendary literary sisters.

The landslide passed immediately behind Top Withens, but amazingly the derelict farmhouse -- reputedly the inspiration for the setting of Emily Bront's classic novel Wuthering Heights -- was untouched.

Thousands of people from across the world make the trek to the isolated spot every year.

A section of the Pennine Way and a footpath between Bront Waterfalls and Top Withens have been affected, but are still negotiable with care.

Bradford Council's countryside and rights of way service is to carry out work to clear and reinstate the paths.

Countryside officer David Parsons said: "The build-up of water last week has led to many hundreds of tonnes of peat, soil, grass and stones being washed down.

"The landslide extends for about three-quarters of a mile from behind Top Withens to South Dean Beck, which flows under Bront Bridge.

"In some places you can see a tide mark of mud and slurry, which at points is 40ft wide.

"The last time I can recall anything like this was when Bront Bridge got washed away in 1989, but serious as that was, the effect on this occasion is much more widespread."

The main area of the moor affected is known as Clay Banks, from where puddle clay was taken to build Lower Laithe reservoir in the early part of the last century.

And the landslide is close to the spot where a similar event -- known as the Crow Hill bog burst -- occurred on September 2, 1824.

That landslide, referred to by Patrick Bront as an earthquake, also followed torrential rain.

He feared for the safety of three of his young children -- Emily, Branwell and Anne -- who were out on the moors when the storm erupted, but it transpired they had been given shelter and were unharmed.