FOR the fourth year running there will be nothing glorious about the 12th of August on the Duke of Devonshire's estate at Bolton Abbey.

After years of depleted grouse numbers, partly due to the effects of a parasitic worm, the population is beginning to recover.

But the problems have now been compounded by the outbreak of foot and mouth disease.

Estate manager Benedict Hayes said: "We are in difficult times. We will continue discussions with DEFRA as to what we can do and what we can't do. The whole shooting programme will be tailored accordingly.

He said that how much shooting would be allowed on the estate depended on the number of grouse and the foot and mouth restrictions.

Mr Hayes said: "We can't make a decision until those two elements have been sorted out

"We hope to get in a little bit of shooting. We work so hard and the costs are continual year on year. And the only way of bringing the income back in is by shooting."

Mr Hayes said there would be no shooting on the opening day of the season but he hoped that there would be opportunities later on.

But he said that this year would be mainly seen as a year for building up stocks of birds. The last bumper year for shooting on the estate was as long ago as 1997.

The estate consists of around 15,000 acres of moorland, including Barden Fell and Barden Moor. Mr Hayes said that the management of the land for red grouse also maintained a habitat for other species of wildlife, but the income from shooting was vital to the continued good work.

Grouse have a natural five to seven-year cycle in terms of population, which oscillates from boom to crash.

In practical terms this means that during three or four years of the cycle, there are often not enough grouse to shoot at all.

The last decade has been the worst for grouse numbers in living memory, according tot the Moorland Association, which represents the owners and managers of grouse moors.

Chairman Air Commander Simon Bostock, said: "In general this should be a good year for grouse in the UK. Restrictions due to foot and mouth disease will, of necessity, lead to some cancellations, a delayed start to the season, and some loss of income in parts of the country.

"Hopefully, this will be mitigated in part by the quality of the shooting that is on offer this year."

In England and Wales there are about 160 estates where grouse shooting occurs.

On average 200,000 grouse are shot in England and Wales during the shooting season.