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Plans to create a wide national park across the north of England have triggered an age-old row that has inflamed a centuries old rivalry between two neighbouring counties.

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The controversial proposals to create a continuous band of protected land across the north of England will see the boundaries of the Yorkshire Dales National Park and the Lake District National Park being increased so they meet on either side of the M6. You may be wondering where Cumbria came into the War of the Roses? The problem rises, it seems with the inclusion of a small corner of Lancashire in the plans to be incorporated into the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Opponents to the plans feel that increasing the size of the Yorkshire Dales will dilute the unique character it currently enjoys. John Weighell, leader of the North Yorkshire County Council, said: 'It is the Yorkshire Dales National Park. It is important that it keeps both that name and character. Extending it westwards is not doing that. The Yorkshire Dales are very rugged and very hilly. The areas that they are putting in are of a different character.'

Similarly, in Lancashire, there are deep concerns that a part of Lancashire may need to be swallowed up by neighbouring Yorkshire. Old rivalries run deep it seems and Lack Fell in Lancashire, a 1,737 acre area of open moorland, seems to be the biggest stumbling block to the plans being agreed upon. The War of the Roses lives on.

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