A GAMEKEEPER who helped restore an overgrown moor has won a national award.

Jimmy Shuttlewood, head keeper at Snilesworth Moor, near Hawnby, was given a special accolade in the Purdey Awards for Game and Conservation.

He was presented with a cheque for £500 by MP Kate Hoey, chairwoman of the Countryside Alliance, at a ceremony in London.

The Purdey Awards are presented annually to owners or tenants of shoots in the UK, whose management and conservation projects have significantly improved the country's habitat for game and other wildlife.

Mr Shuttlewood has been head keeper at Snilesworth since 2000, successfully restoring heather and grouse to the moor.

A spokesman for the awards said Snilesworth had the potential to become one of the best grouse moors in the country.

The spokesman said: "Jimmy has worked tirelessly to burn and renew great areas of Snilesworth's old and overgrown heather, to control its over-populous vermin, and nurture its new and growing population of red grouse.

"He has done so in an irrepressibly enthusiastic and good-humoured manner, supported by his wife and young family.

"He has also actively encouraged the local community, through holding open days, to see how good grouse moor management benefits biodiversity, as well as the local economy."