Sir, – I cannot let Alan Hunton's letters, D&S Nov 14 and Dec 5, go unanswered. He is so misguided.

Mr Hunton advocates banning driven grouse shooting. If banned, hen harrier numbers will fall, possibly to the level of extinction in this country – and not just hen harriers will be endangered but also grouse, both red and black, lapwings, curlews, golden plover, snipe, skylarks, grey partridge and all the other ground nesting birds which currently thrive on keepered heather moorland and/or the moorland fringes.

The reason for this predicted decline is simple – no driven grouse shooting means no grouse keepers, no grouse keepers means no vermin control and a subsequent massive proliferation of weasels , stoats, foxes and corvids – all natural and voracious predators of ground nesting birds. A stoat or a fox will not differentiate between a hen harrier chick or a grouse chick – they are both the same to a fox – a meal. To a corvid an egg, any egg, is just another snack.

Yes it will take several years for grouse stocks to dwindle, after the initial decimation due to disease, while vermin numbers rise inexorably, but the end result is inevitable – few, if any, ground nesting birds of any type will survive on moorland.

Prime examples of large areas of upland which are not keepered are in Wales. There the uplands are virtually devoid of lapwings, curlews, golden plover, hen harriers etc. These are inconvertible facts which are borne out by the Langholm Study, of which Mr Hunton has probably heard but chosen to ignore and where, I understand, during the study, a fox was actually caught on film eating a hen harrier chick.

At this point I feel I should declare my interest. I am not a moor keeper. I am an OAP who lives in and loves the countryside and open moorland. I spend a considerable amount each year keeping our bird table well stocked for the benefit of the songbirds that survive the predation of the local sparrowhawks, and have also planted a dozen rowan trees which not only help to encourage and feed the blackbirds and thrushes, but also passing flocks of fieldfares. So, yes I am a bird lover too.

However I am also one of the band of willing helpers who turn out on shoot days and yes, my income would take a knock if driven grouse shooting were to go. But Mr Hunton misses a vital point about the numbers of people who benefit, directly or indirectly, from grouse shooting, and it only just starts with the beaters, flankers, loaders and picker uppers with all their dogs. Those who come to the Dales and moors of Northern England and Scotland for driven grouse shooting spend a lot of money bringing a much needed boost to the local economy.

DAVE WILLIAMSON

Redmire, Leyburn.