BUSINESSES in the region have been warned about the dangers of damaging protected wildlife areas.

The comments from a senior English Nature officer follow the successful prosecution of a company which damaged protected moorland in North Yorkshire.

Andy Clement, English Nature's director of protected areas, said companies had to be aware that the organisation was prepared to use the law to keep habitats from harm.

He was speaking after Faccombe Estates Limited, of Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire, was fined £7,500 and ordered to pay £6,787 costs by Northallerton Magistrates' Court at the end of last month.

The company pleaded guilty to causing damage to part of the largest tract of heather moorland in England, in the North York Moors Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).

SSSIs are the country's best wildlife and geological sites and the moors attract protection under UK and European law.

The company, which runs grouse shoots, admitted constructing a three-metre-wide, 620- metre-long stone track across heather moorland without English Nature's consent.

Sandstone was used to cover more than 1,800 square metres of heather in an area with European importance for endangered birds such as merlin and golden plover.

According to English Nature, heather moorland in England is threatened by agricultural practices including overgrazing by sheep and the establishment of forests, leading to a fragmented habitat. Between 1947 and 1980, 27 per cent of heather moorland was lost in England and Wales.

Mr Clement, based at English Nature's headquarters in Peterborough, said that many SSSIs were occupied by businesses, ranging from shooting estates to heavy industry, and that English Nature monitored them all.

He said: "There are 4,000 SSSIs, covering a million hectares - seven per cent of the country, - and we have relationships with all the businesses which operate on them.

"It is important that companies are aware of their obligations. Landowners and occupiers of land designated as a SSSI have a legal responsibility to consult English Nature about operations that may damage the wildlife interests of a site."

He said English Nature had previously had a good relationship with Faccombe Estates.

Mr Clement said: "We do not set out to make an example of people and enforcement like this happens in only a minority of cases. It is the hard end of enforcement and we regard it as failure.

"We do not get many of these exceptions but we have increasing legislation available to us, our powers are greater and businesses will be prosecuted."

He said that added to the pressure on companies, were Government targets that by 2010, 95 per cent of the country's SSSIs have to be in 'favourable condition'. Currently, it is two-thirds.

Mr Clement said the vast majority of businesses on SSSIs acted responsibly, adding: "There is cause for optimism. Overall, SSSIs are managed well."

Published: 24/05/2005