THREE of York’s conservation areas are under threat of damage and decay as a heritage body warns the historic gems of North Yorkshire could face an “uncertain future”.

The 2010 Heritage At Risk report, compiled by English Heritage, says more than 400 monuments across North Yorkshire urgently need work to protect them for future generations.

And the study, which is the most in-depth analysis of the heritage situation performed by the organisation, has listed Strensall, Towthorpe and the York Racecourse and Terry’s factory conservation areas in York as being “at risk” and “deteriorating”.

Monuments in East Yorkshire, including at Bishop Burton, Bishop Wilton, Driffield and Market Weighton, are also included on the register, as are battlefields at Towton and Stamford Bridge and five buildings in the Hambleton district, 12 in Ryedale, ten in Harrogate, one in Scarborough and five on the North York Moors.

In total, English Heritage says almost 50 listed buildings, including the Tuscan Temple at Helmsley’s Duncombe Park estate, the Mausoleum at Castle Howard, Ebberston Hall, Scarborough, Sheriff Hutton and Slingsby castles and Whitby Brewhouse are at risk.

It says more than ten per cent of North Yorkshire’s parks and gardens are also at risk.

But Bolton Percy Gatehouse, near Tadcaster, and two 4,000-year-old Bronze Age burial mounds at Garrowby Hill, north of Pocklington, have been safeguarded and removed from the register.

Trevor Mitchell, English Heritage’s regional director, said: “The economic downturn has added to the challenges of finding long-term solutions for the buildings on the register.

“This year’s register includes many other types of heritage treasures facing uncertain futures, so we must be careful to prioritise our action with particular concern for the region’s great industrial buildings, together with ancient monuments and the industrial archaeology of the Yorkshire Dales.

“Some truly inspiring work is already being done and, to a large extent, the size of the Heritage At Risk register reflects the astonishing richness of the region’s historic environment. But it’s an asset we must work hard to protect or lose forever.”

English Heritage said grants totalling £94,000 were offered to owners of at-risk monuments in the Yorkshire and the Humber region last year, while £492,000 was allocated for repairs of listed buildings.