HOT weather and blue skies brought crowds of visitors to the North York Moors National Park on Sunday - but also hordes of bikers.

Motorcyclists screaming past cars and visitors on what is known as the "Yorkshire TT" highlighted the need for action, says a pressure group.

In its latest move, a public call for action against speeding bikers and heavy goods vehicles has been made by a group of high-profile individuals drawn from sport, churches, the theatre, literature, film and television, sport, politics and society. Many of the celebrities have Yorkshire roots or strong emotional links to the region.

They have put their names to an open letter sent to newspaper editors, supporting the demands on local pressure group Band (Bilsdale Against Noise and Danger) for urgent action by police and highways authorities to counter the dangers and environmental damage posed by speeding bikes and lorries on the main road through the park.

Among the signatories are actors Patrick Stewart, Zoe Wanamaker, Brian Blessed and Lord Brian Rix; cricketers Geoffrey Boycott and Fred Trueman; political figures William Hague and Sir Bernard Ingham; TV gardener Alan Titchmarsh; Lord Feversham and the Acting Dean of York Minster, Canon Glyn Webster.

Band's five principal demands are:

* a reduction in the speed limit to 50mph on all roads within the park;

* a stronger police presence and road safety enforcement;

* the introduction of speed cameras and action against illegal noise pollution by motorbikes;

* a reduction in the number of HGVs.

Chairman of Band, Ken Braithwaite, said: "We are pleased that this campaign has attracted such powerful and wide-ranging support.

"Anyone who knows the area cannot fail to be horrified by the sheer noise and frightening carnage inflicted on its roads every summer by the madness of literally hundreds of speeding bikes."

He recognised that a blanket 50mph speed restriction across the park was not an immediate likelihood, though it was a long-term goal.

More immediately, Band is pressing for a specific speed restrictions on the B1257 Stokesley to Helmsley road, where it crosses the park.

Mr Braithwaite said: "This is the route known as the Yorkshire TT. It is a route where speed records are set, to be recorded and boasted about on biker web sites. And these are the same biker web sites that reassure their readers about the minimal police presence on the road. We want a 50mph speed limit and want it enforced."

A spokesman for North Yorkshire police said that issues such as speed limits and the movement of lorries were not policing matters.

But replying to points in the open letter, he said: "We share Band's concerns about anti-social riding and driving, not just on the B1247 but on all the 6,000 miles of roads which it is our responsibility to police.

"Specifically, we devote considerable resources to roads like the B1257 which have a reputation for excessively fast riding or driving. The national park section of the B1257 has such a reputation; every year a tiny proportion of the motorcyclists who enjoy that road do try to live up to that reputation, and every year some of them pay the price."

Some 28 riders died on North Yorkshire's roads last year - one of them on the B1257.

This summer the force says it plans to operate a strict enforcement regime; extra patrols; action days with large numbers of officers enforcing the law on roads with records of serious motorcycle accidents or complaints of anti-social rider behaviour; and fast-tracking the worst speed offenders through the courts.

The police spokesman added: "We share Band's view of the minority who tarnish the image of the majority by anti-social behaviour such as stunt riding or using illegally noisy race exhausts."

He added: "The force's Bike Safe education strategy will continue, but the policing emphasis has shifted towards enforcement."

* See Letters to the

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