Numbers up for game birds

Weather conditions may also have helped the grouse

Grouse numbers have risen by up to 30% across the north of England, partly as a result of foot-and-mouth disease, according to the Moorland Association.

The shooting season is due to open as usual on 12 August, after the Government altered the restrictions introduced to contain the outbreak.

Special licences must be granted for grouse estates, and shooting parties must disinfect before leaving the area.

A Moorland Association survey of its estate managers, who are responsible for 750,000 acres of heather moorland, suggests stocks are up in Yorkshire, Cumbria, Northumberland, Derbyshire and Durham.

Restrictions have been relaxed for shooting

Air Commodore Simon Bostock from the association said: "The downside of foot-and-mouth was that restrictions prevented some gamekeepers from inspecting the nests of the chicks.

"On the other hand, there is anecdotal evidence in the honey-pot tourist areas that, because of the restrictions stopping people walking in the countryside, the moors have been very quiet.

'Delighted'

The rise in stocks is also put down to a colder winter, which killed off parasitic worms, and a warmer spring improving the survival rates of chicks.

Commodore Bostock said: "We are delighted because we have had three or four very poor seasons due in large part to mild winters and wet summers."

There are also more grouse in Scotland this year.

The Heather Trust, which monitors grouse levels there, reports that stocks are up in the Lammermuirs and Moorfoots, Dumfriesshire, Ayrshire and Perthshire.