INSCRIPTIONS on scores of historic stones on the North York Moors are being lost because they have suffered generations of rain and wind, says a leading historian and retired Durham teacher

As a result says Eric Frisby, of West Cornforth, the stories associated with them are being lost. "They surely deserve our attention and preservation but no-one seems to want to take on the responsibility," he said.

Some are memorial stones, others mark boundaries or are refuges for pilgrims on their way from Byland and Rievaulx abbeys to Whitby Abbey. Many of the stones have suffered weathering, but the biggest crisis was being caused by people using 4X4 vehicles to get onto the heart of the moors over rough terrain, and remove landmark stones for use in private gardens, said Mr Frisby.

He said a stone on Wheeldale Moor, marking the spot where a long-serving gamekeeper died, was even pitted with bullet marks after being used for target practice.

He wants to a central point of information set up, where details of the stones can be found by students, walkers and historians.

"I have found records of a number of stones but when I went to find them, they have gone" said Mr Frisby.

He who has built up a 1,000-strong photographic library of existing stones and crosses. In some cases, stones have been knocked over and become covered by heather and undergrowth. Some newer stones have been put on the moors in memory of people who had a love for the national park.

He has asked English Heritage, the North York Moors National Park Authority and the National Trust to take on the responsibility for caring for the monuments, but without success, because of the potential cost.

Mr Frisby's worry for the future was that landowners, who previously took a keen interest in them, would no longer do so where the moors were bought by shooting consortiums.

Resins used to protect cathedrals and other important ancient buildings could be used to safeguard the inscriptions he said. "My interest is in making a record of the stones and their inscriptions."

Many record tragedies such as where a peddler perished in a blizzard; more recent stones mark the spot where a young motorist was drowned while trying to cross a ford in 1994, and record how an elderly man lost his life when he was burning heather on the moors, and the blaze got out of control.

Some isolated boulders, known as hanging stones, are thought to have been used for hanging sheep rustlers, or as suicide spots, because they hung over slopes on the moor.

"These stones are a fascinating part of our local heritage and it is vital their history and inscriptions are recorded.