A HELICOPTER has been employed to lift tonnes of stone into remote upland locations as part of a £2.6million project to help make high-level routes less of an eyesore.

This week has seen a second air lift to transport around 500 giant bags of stone to repair some of the most eroded paths in the heart of the Lake District, including stretches on Cat Bells, Scafell Pike, the Langdales and near Buttermere.

A couple of weeks ago, highly-trained pilots airlifted more than 300 bags to upland sites as part of the biggest such operation undertaken by the Lake District upland access management group.

"This is a complex and costly operation, but action is absolutely vital to save some of the best landscape in Britain," said Richard Fox, upland paths officer for the Lake District National Park Authority

Skilled footpath repair workers will use the stone to help stabilise eroded slopes and

re-align paths with areas alongside land-

scaped to discourage people from straying off the route.

Mr Fox said that as well as tackling unsightly erosion scars, repair teams will also concentrate on paths where problems can be prevented from developing.

One of the locations being worked on as a priority is the path from Levers Water to Levers Hawse, which was one of the early access points to the fells when foot-and-mouth restrictions were lifted, and was heavily used by walkers.

Work will continue until November when the winter weather starts to set in.

It is part of a project begun in the 1990s when around 145 upland paths were identified as being seriously eroded, with an estimated £ 5.5million worth of work needing to be carried out over ten years.

The access management group - which includes the LDNPA, the National Trust and English Nature - applied to the Heritage Lottery Fund for five years worth of funding.

Although the bid has not yet been approved, the HLF gave a £97,000 grant last year, followed by another £282,000 this year to kick-start erosion repair work.

This has been added to by grants from the LDNPA, Hawkshead clothing company, and the Lake District Tourism and Conservation Partnership.

As well as the continuing repair work, Mr Fox also appealed for people out walking in the Lakeland fells to do their bit to help care for the paths.

"We're approaching a vulnerable time for paths as vegetation growth slows for the winter and fails to regenerate on trampled ground," he said.

"We're asking every path user to resist the temptation to shortcut bends, and to keep to the path surface rather than widening them by walking alongside them or skirting round damaged sections."

Walkers can also contribute to the maintenance of the landscape by making a donation to the Upland Path Restoration Appeal Fund via the following address: Freepost NWW4923A, Kendal, Cumbria, LA9 7LE.

l Around 260 tonnes of stone flags were airlifted onto the western flank of Ingleborough as part of a £75,000 project to repair the western path to its summit.

Stone delivered during the four-day airlift will be used to replace a 1,100-metre section of wooden board footpath which has started to rot.

Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority area ranger Steve Hastie said: "By replacing boards with stone flags we will lay down a more sustainable and natural walking surface, which will benefit walkers coming to the Three Peaks for many years to come."