A QUAD bike has been used to help control vegetation that is a serious fire risk.

The bike, fitted with a jet sprayer, has ridden over 14 hectares of bracken on Eston Moor, near Middlesbrough, in a bid to control vegetation and reduce the risk of fire.

The work has been carried out thanks to a grant supplied by the landfill tax credit scheme Biffaward, and a contribution from Huntsman Tioxide towards the cost of using a weedkiller that will not harm other plants.

Eston Hills warden David Spencer, from Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council's countryside section, which successfully bid for the grant, said: "Every spring, illegal fires are lit, posing a serious risk to people and wildlife. Dead bracken provides the principal source of tinder.

"As the bracken spreads, assisted by burning, the extent of fire damage increases, spreading into heather and scrub, helping bracken to out-compete the natural vegetation and increasing the area available to burn each year.

"The aim is to halt its encroachment, maintain and improve the site for amenity and education and reduce the available, flammable dead bracken, improving visitor safety."

Biffaward chairman Martin Bettington said: "Biffaward is pleased to have supported this work that will greatly enhance an important habitat and hopefully help to reduce the threat of illegal fires. The work will also be beneficial to the local community as it will improve the appearance of a public open space."