
Bradford Council is being urged to end grouse shooting on Ilkley Moor as the final season in its controversial licence came to a close over the weekend.
The call comes as the group Ban Bloodsports on Ilkley Moor (BBIM), which is lobbying for an end to the practice, releases what it claims to be fresh evidence of damage to rare blanket bog on access routes around shooting butts.
The activists say damage to habitat through grouse shooting is the main driver behind over half of protected breeding bird species having declined or become locally extinct on Ilkley Moor.
Bradford Council is the last local authority in the UK to allow grouse shooting to take place on public moorland.