THE North York Moors could become a wilderness of scrub unless the number of grazing sheep is increased, a councillor has warned.

Herbert Tindall, chairman of the Primary Landusers group, said it was of grave concern that sheep numbers grazing on the moorland had diminished due to the foot-and-mouth crisis last year.

He told the North York Moors National Park Authority: "We must get them back again or the moors will become a wilderness of scrub and it could cost this authority thousands, even a million pounds to clear the trees, which would be allowed to grow."

"We need the sheep back on the land to eat all the buds from the trees," he said.