Study into decline of moors sheep

A study has been launched to find out how to stop a steep decline in numbers of sheep on the North York Moors.

Flocks are disappearing from the moors at a rate of about three a year and at that rate there will be none left by 2033 at the latest, research shows.

Now the North York Moors National Park has teamed up with experts at Askham Bryan College near York to report on how best to halt the decline.

They hope the findings will help steer government policy on hill farming.

The college will look in detail at the running of six upland farms and how much they are likely to earn over the next five years.

Some hill farmers have already responded to a questionnaire as part of the study.