THE health of villagers in the North Yorkshire Moors valleys and the welfare of wildlife are being put at risk by controlled burning of heather, it has been claimed.

The National Park authority is to investigate calls for a rethink on the practice by retained firefighter and parish councillor David Hodgson.

Mr Hodgson, a member of Danby and Castleton Parish Council, which covers thousands of acres of the park, said: "It is not controlled burning, it is often out-of-control burning."

He said the burning was carried out by estates owning the moorland to improve the habitats for game birds.

He raised the issue at the park's Western area parish forum and received unanimous backing for a code of conduct to be drawn up.

He said: "There should be a licensing scheme because, at present, the moors are burned when it is convenient to the landowners, not to the communities."

Mr Hodgson said smoke often hung over the Esk Valley villages, and he was concerned that residents' health was at risk.

One of the problems Mr Hodgson said was controlled fires breaking out hours and even days after they were believed to have been put out by landowners and their staff.

He said re-ignition resulted in considerable cost to taxpayers because fire brigades had to be brought in.

He said: "The smoke should go up in the air, but it frequently hangs around above the villages, which is bad for health and the communities' quality of life."

He said that in one instance an estate had burned off moorland on November 5, which got out of control.

He said: "For that to have been done on the busiest night of the year for fire brigades was totally inconsiderate."

Mr Hodgson said the fires were harmful to wildlife and there had been instances of smoke blowing across roads, causing potential road accidents.