IN his Star Trek role as Captain Jean-Luc Picard, actor Patrick Stewart couldn't be further away from altogether more down-to-earth gardening guru Alan Titchmarsh.

But the two have now joined forces to fight a foe they believe represents a threat just as menacing as the Klingons and Cardassians or even aphids and snails.

And along with a host of other famous names they are battling to preserve the peace and quiet of one of the most picturesque landscapes in the country from speeding bikers and thundering HGVs.

Campaigners claim parts of the North York Moors - in particular 15 miles of the B1257 between Helmsley and Stokesley - are under siege from the ear-splitting antics of two and six-wheelers.

They have recruited a string of big names from the worlds of showbusiness, literature, the Church, sport and politics to back their demands for action to counter the traffic dangers and the environmental damage it causes.

As well as Patrick Stewart and Alan Titchmarsh they include actors Brian Blessed, who is president of the Council for National Parks, Lord Brian Rix, boss of Mencap, and Zoe Wanamaker.

From the world of sport they include cricketers Geoffrey Boycott and Fred Trueman and racehorse trainers Peter Beaumont, Jack Berry and Jimmy Fitzgerald.

And among those representing literature, music art and the media are novelist AS Byatt, playwright Ian Curteis, broadcaster Janet Street Porter, artist Sir David Goodall and composer Arthur Butterworth.

The list also includes local Euro-MPs and MPs, such as William Hague and John Greenway, and senior churchmen including the Abbot of Ampleforth, the Right Reverend Timothy Wright, and the Acting Dean of York Minster, Canon Glyn Webster.

Ken Braithwaite, chairman of the campaign group Band - Bilsdale Against Noise and Danger - said the big names reflected the fact that the area was a precious natural resource.

He said: "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 bikers."