A regeneration programme on the North York Moors has been hailed as an economic and environmental triumph.

Long-term private sector jobs have been created by the £2.83m effort at the same time as the heather-clad moors themselves have been enhanced.

It is hoped that the lessons learned from the success of the Moorland Regeneration Programme will now be able to be used to help a wider rural revival.

Key achievements of the five-year programme included the creation of 11 full-time jobs, the restoration of 409 hectares of moorland and a 7.5 per cent decrease in lamb mortality - equivalent to 2,000 extra lambs surviving annually.

There have also been 4,000 hectares of bracken eradicated, 2,300 hectares of controlled annual heather burning and 340 jobs have been supported and protected.

The programme has resulted in 26 estates and more than 100 farmers working together to improve awareness and implement marketing initiatives, as well as building cattle grids, facilities for sheep-handling and game larders.

In addition, the curlew and lapwing populations have significantly increased, in contrast to a national decline in recent decades.

Co-ordinator Michael Graham said: "The programme has funded additional work on the moors, encouraged good management practices and improved communication between moorland managers, farmers and conservationists."

He said: "Although the programme has now ended, the partners remain fully committed to continuing to work to identify future needs, to strengthen the links between moorland management and conservation and to seek ways to build on the sound foundations that have been laid."

The chief executive of the National Park Authority, Andy Wilson, said: "It is vital that the messages from this programme are taken on board more widely."

The programme was funded by the European Union, the former Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, private enterprise, English Nature and the National Park Authority