THE polluted legacy of the Yorkshire Dales' mining past is being tackled through a strategy drawn up after months of effort.

The once-thriving mining industry led to more than 1,000 mineral workings, mines and quarries in the Richmondshire area alone.

But the strategy drawn up by the district council also highlights other potential hazards posed by things such as disused landfill and garage sites.

The ultimate aim is to pinpoint every contaminated site that may threaten water supplies, eco systems, crops, livestock and even historic buildings.

The public are invited to do their bit in helping to identify any other sites which may have slipped through the net.

Environmental health officer Sean Little said digging up the information on the sites has been almost as hard as extracting the lead, coal and limestone hundreds of years ago.

He said: "We had to dig really deep to unearth the information we needed."

"Because many of these sites are so old we have not only consulted statutory agencies like the Environment Agency and English Nature, we've also had to pore over documents kept at the county records office in Northallerton."

The result is a five-year strategy, which identifies the sites that need to be inspected. A decision will then be made on the risk presented by each site and any remedial work that is necessary.

"We then have to look at who has to foot the bill for the clean-up - and this is likely to be extremely complex when we are talking about contamination which took place hundreds of years ago," said Mr Little.

"We know there are many more possibly contaminated sites out there and would very much like to hear from anyone who can help us build up the complete picture.

"It may be many years before we resolve this situation, but knowledge is everything and if we don't know a potential threat exists, we can't do anything about it."

The strategy is available at local libraries, council offices, in Richmond, and community offices in Leyburn and Hawes