THE owner of an upper Teesdale grouse moor has won permission to lay three surfaced tracks – less than two years after a court ordered the estate to pay almost £500,000 for wrongly laying a half-mile section.

Natural England took Wemmergill Estates to court, where it was found guilty of laying a track on protected moorland.

The unintentional breach of the Wildlife and Countryside Act occurred during an approved restoration programme of about 12 miles of track on the internationally important Wemmergill moor.

The estate was fined £50,000, ordered to pay £240,000 legal costs and to carry out £220,000 of restoration work.

Now, owner Michael Cannon has won permission for three surfaced tracks measuring 5km – just over three miles – and associated parking to improve access to the moor.

The 17,000-acre Wemmergill estate was owned by the late Queen Mother’s Bowes-Lyon family for 400 years.

Mr Cannon, who made his fortune buying and selling pubs, paid more than £5m for it in 2006 and has embarked on a £5m project to restore more than 5,000 acres of heather moorland.

He has planted 250,000 trees and shrubs as cover to encourage the rare black grouse and introduced measures to protect heather on which the birds depend.

The new tracks have been agreed by rural specialists George F White, acting for Mr Cannon, and planners at Durham County Council.

Wemmergill – one of England’s premier grouse moors – will become more accessible to farmers and gamekeepers. The terrain is difficult and dangerous in bad weather.

The tracks will make it easier for visitors to walk the moor during commercial shoots and give emergency vehicles better access.

Maria Ferguson, head of planning and development at George F White, said: “Despite this being a contentious proposal, the local authority were extremely understanding of the needs of the estate.

“This planning approval will allow the continued success of Wemmergill commercial grouse moor, bringing wider benefits to the area in terms of local employment and local services.”

Thousands of visitors from around the world enjoy the shooting season on Wemmergill and spend on local accommodation and in shops and restaurants, safeguarding jobs.

The moor covers 15,000 acres of the Northern Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Any planning permission must take into account the conservation of the landscape and its population of merlins, moorhens, short-eared owls, red grouse, snipe, curlews and redshanks.