WALKERS are being asked to stay vigilant and help minimise the risk of fire on local moorland.

South Pennines Fire Operations Group (Fog) made the appeal this week, following fires on the moorland above Littleborough and Todmorden, and warned that moorland fires can endanger human health as well as wildlife, livestock, valuable habitat.

Fog is co-ordinated by rural regeneration company Pennine Prospects, which works for the good of upland stretching from Ilkley Moor in the north, south to Rochdale and Bolton.

Fog chairman and Bradford Council countryside head, Danny Jackson, said: “Spring is a real danger period for moorland wildfires, which is why the partners working together through Fog, including firefighters and landowners, are asking members of the public to be extra vigilant when out in the countryside.

“The negative impact of wildfires across the moors is widely recognised, including the economic impact on farmers through the loss of grazing.

“The loss of habitat and the effect that these fires have on nesting birds, such as the endangered twite, can also clearly be seen but in addition we want to highlight the hidden dangers; the pollution, the release of carbon into the atmosphere, and the impact on people’s health.”

Bradford Council, as the owner of Ilkley Moor, is continuing to work with other parties to regenerate badly damaged acres of Ilkley Moor following a week-long blaze in summer 2006.

Fog says some controlled burning by landowners takes place between October 1 and April 15, but a fire started outside of these dates, or without the appropriate control measures, is a wildfire and any person caught starting one can be prosecuted for arson.

Nicholas Watson, wildfire officer for the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “Please be very careful when you are out on the moors. Dispose of any glass bottles and cigarettes in a responsible manner and remember to use your barbecue at home rather than on the moors.

“If you see a wildfire please report it through the 999 service giving its location as precisely as possible. And we would also ask people to report anyone acting suspiciously.”

He added: “Until recently moorland fires were seen as a low priority but now the uplands are recognised as being as valuable as bricks and mortar.”

It is feared fires during the crucial spring breeding season could hit the numbers of already-dwindling bird species.