A NEW alliance is being formed to stop green lanes in the Yorkshire Dales being used by recreational, off-road motorists and motorcyclists.

The alliance will push for the prohibition of such green lane use in the Yorkshire Dales and adjoining Nidderdale and is hosting its inaugural meeting on November 28.

Their aims will re-ignite the argument with vehicle groups over long-established rights to use tracks over the dales which date from long before the arrival of the motor car.

Two main aims have been established by the current seven-strong informal working group.

Firstly, to encourage the local highway authorities to place Traffic Regulation Orders (either permanent or temporary restriction orders to regulate traffic on highways) on green lanes in the Yorkshire Dales National Park to conserve the natural beauty and ecology of the area.

Secondly, the group has the national objective to persuade Parliament to strengthen the law.

The alliance considers that it should be illegal for motorised vehicles, other than those specified by the highways authorities - for example vehicles used by farmers or landowners - to use green lanes.

Secretary of The Yorkshire Dales Green Lanes Alliance working group Michael Bartholomew said: "The Highway Authorities in the Dales National Park could use Traffic Regulation Orders to regulate the traffic on green lanes that are highways.

"One of the ways it could do this is to consider whether the use of green lanes by motorbikes and 4X4 vehicles is consistent with the whole purpose of the National Park."

The working group explained the reason for the formation of the alliance: "Many of these green lanes are public rights of way and have also been quietly enjoyed by walkers, horseriders and cyclists.

"Such use has been perfectly in tune with the essential tranquil character of the dales and, by and large, has not damaged the surface of the tracks, even on those lanes where the surface is grassy, and therefore fragile.

"But over the past 10 years or so, large numbers of motorcyclists and car drivers - 'off-roaders' as they are known - using recreational off-road motorbikes and four wheel drive vehicles have taken to riding and driving along green lanes, bringing noise and causing damage - sometimes to the point of destruction - to the track surfaces.

"The numbers of off-roaders are quickly rising and their impact on the dales is alarming. Tracks that were once grassy are now churned up, rutted quagmires. Fell-sides that were once peaceful and quiet are now routinely disturbed by groups, often a dozen or more noisy motorbikes, thrashing along the tracks and frequently out on to the open moor, tearing up the vegetation."

The inaugural meeting will be addressed by Jon Avison of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, who will present slides to illustrate the state of green lanes in the area.