NATIONAL park officials are investigating a road, built across moorland, which conservationists say threatens peregrine falcons nesting in the area.

The Yorkshire Dales Upland Birds Study Group complained about the vehicle track, which members say appeared on Walden Moor, above West Burton, during foot-and-mouth restrictions last year.

A member of the bird group, who did not want to be identified, said the track ran just yards from a nesting site. "There is constant disturbance for the birds, which last bred in 1999," he said. "We are getting motorbikes and all sorts. This site has been in existence for a long time and peregrine falcons bred here right through the crash of the Sixties when populations were almost wiped out. This road and the disturbance it brings could signal the end."

He had observed peregrines there since 1982 and there were birds at the site in February, just days before foot-and-mouth restrictions banned access.

"I heard at the end of the year that this road had appeared right past the little shelter where we sit to observe the birds, and right in front of the nesting site. When foot-and-mouth restrictions were lifted, I went up to have a look, and it ruins the whole thing."

Members were concerned that construction seemed to have taken place during the restrictions.

Peter Watson, principal planning officer for the national park, said: "We have received a complaint and we are investigating." He was unable to comment further until the inquiries were complete.

Strong showing

LEEMING Bar man Steve Dale last night won £3,030 on one of television's toughest game shows, The Weakest Link.

The former soldier filled in an application form earlier this year and travelled to Pinewood Studios, Buckinghamshire, to record his part in the show.

He said: "It was a bit nerve-wracking but I had no problems with Anne Robinson."

Mr Dale and his father, Lou, have appeared separately on Channel 4's Fifteen to One