GOVERNMENT funding for the country’s National Parks is on track to fall by two-fifths by the end of the decade, according to a new analysis.

Cuts to the annual grants under the coalition were followed by a pledge by the last Conservative government to protect funding for the parks up to 2020.

But analysis of figures given to the Press Association in response to a Freedom of Information request suggests most parks will have suffered a real-terms fall of more than 40 per cent in funding from 2010 to 2020.

It suggests that funding for the Yorkshire Dales will have dropped from £6.2m in 2010/11 to £5.2m in 2019/20 while for the North York Moors the 2010/11 figure was £6.2m with the prediction for 2019/20 being £4.4m.

The Campaign for National Parks chief executive Fiona Howie said the analysis was "deeply concerning".

However the assistant director of park services on the North York Moors, Michael Graham, pointed out they were now subject to a fixed four-year grant from the Government which would take them up to the end of the decade so reductions up to then would be the result of inflation.

Yorkshire Dales treasurer Richard Burnett, said: “We are now working very hard to plug the gaps by raising money to supplement our grant, particularly by seeking new grants from a very wide range of sources, including the Heritage Lottery Fund.

"So this year, we will be bringing in just over £1.6m on top of our Defra grant to help us to deliver our objectives– a record for the authority.”