THE system of moorland sheep grazing is in real danger of breaking down.

This is the grim warning being delivered to farmers and communities in the Esk Valley.

Unless a new network of cattle grids is installed, it is feared shepherding could become unviable.

The North York Moors National Park says hefted sheep are straying further and further afield and the problem has to be tackled.

The park wants to install five permanent grids in the valley, one at the top of Longmans Bank, near Castleton. This would replace a temporary grid near the Eskdale Hotel, put in at the height of the foot-and-mouth outbreak to keep sheep out of the village and which was removed on Monday.

But the moves could affect a long-running discussion as to whether Castleton should once again have a village flock.

At public meeting in the village on Thursday last week to start thrashing out the issue, local farmers made it clear they were no longer prepared to keep sheep at their expense just so the village could be kept tidy.

Peter Barfoot, head of advisory services for the national park, said the authority now had the funding to start a programme of installation, but he admitted that grazing in the village was an uncertainty.

"The grid above Castleton will keep the flocks on the moor to a large extent but it means it is more viable for people to keep sheep in the village as well," he said.

He said a large amount of fencing would be needed around the grid but that siting was still not determined.

Danby parish councillor Linda Grout said: "We support the farmers over the grid but there is concern over what will happen if all that fencing goes up."

One farmer said: "We are stopping doing everything for nothing. Why should we be the ones to keep the village tidy with our sheep?. There is going to have be a compromise. There will be no sheep left at this rate. It is a non-starter without a grid. It is just not economical."

Parish council chairman Herbert Tindall said he hoped to have found a flock master willing to keep 60 to 70 sheep in the village. "It is happening in Lealholm and Glaisdale and I think it can happen here," he said.

Mr Barfoot said eight flocks grazed the northern moors at present. "If these flocks go it will be getting unviable," he said. "Numbers are decreasing. We lost a lot of hefted sheep due to foot-and-mouth and we are looking at the bigger picture."

Michael Graham, national park moorland management officer, warned: "If a large flock goes the whole hefting structure could break down.

"There is a real danger of that. Graziers could then say it is not worthwhile and conservation of the moorland will suffer. Sheep are spreading beyond boundaries and it is making shepherding unmanageable.

"If we don't do something there is not going to be any sheep either in the villages or out of them."

Farmers said it cost up to £1,000 a year to remove dead sheep from roadsides because of new ground water rules. This was on top of losses incurred with sheep at market.