GROUSE shooters have got their sights set on a truly glorious season in the region.

Grouse moors in other parts of the country have been devastated by heavy rain which has killed thousands of chicks, but Northumberland and County Durham are ready for one of the best seasons for years.

The predictions of a bumper grouse population has delighted hoteliers and tourist industry workers who calculate that shooting is worth £331m to the North.

National Gamekeepers Organisation chairman Lindsay Waddell said: “After two very bad years for Northumberland and the Pennines, we’re back in business.

“In 2005 and 2006 there was the biggest crash I’ve ever seen.

“It’s taken until now for the shoots to return to a semblance of normality. It’s incredibly important for the area. It’s a bit of fun and a sport, but it also creates a third of many hotels’ incomes.

“For two years it’s been missing and times have been very hard. On August 13, it’s back.”

The grouse shooting season usually starts on August 12, but this year it will start on Monday 13 because shoots are traditionally not held on a Sunday.

The Moorland Association estimates that shooting supports around 3,000 jobs in the region.

James Scott Harden from the association said: “Two years ago very few estates were shooting. This year most have some booked and can even start thinking about extra days. The shoots attract Europeans, Americans, Cubans because grouse can only be found in this country, it really is a big boost.”

Some experts predicted that the cold weather and relentless downpours of June and July would have killed off the grouse chicks, but it seems they were just large enough and the heather just thick enough for them to survive.

But in Derbyshire and the Yorkshire Moors the population was decimated.

An estimated 75% of their shoots are likely to be cancelled.

Richard Townsend of Yorkshire Game describes a “boom or bust culture”, and he said this year it’s Northumberland’s boom and Derbyshire’s bust.

“I expect to be taking grouse from Northumberland up to the high-end restaurants of London like The Ivy and The Wolseley,” he said.

“Lots will of course stay local and the good news is it should be cheaper than it has been for years.

“Last year the price per bird didn’t drop below £6 – this year you’re looking at £4 or £5.”

Hotels that have struggled for guests in the rainy summer see it as a “golden egg”.

A spokesman for the Lord Crewe Arms in Blanchland said: “When it’s good it’s good, but when it’s bad it’s terrible. We’re very much looking forward to this season.”

Richard Dodd, from the Countryside Alliance, said gamekeepers must feel there are enough grouse to start the season across Northumberland and County Durham.

He said: “It has been poor weather – in April and May the weather was not so bad – so hopefully the chicks will have had a bit of strength.

“It’s a massive economy player, so in a bad farm year it might be a saviour.”