Emmerdale bosses are having to pay out a reported £28,000 to repair damages that a stunt on the show caused to the countryside it was shot on.

The stunt was the dramatic car crash involving John and Moira Barton earlier this year, which won the Spectacular Scene Of The Year Award at the British Soap Awards in April, which was filmed in a famous Yorkshire beauty spot.

Admirers of the area have accused the show of ruining an entire footpath as well as leaving the landscape covered in mud (as opposed to what, marble?) and tyre marks.

The stunt, performed by James Thornton and Natalie J Robb who play the farming couple shown on ITV on February 16, was filmed around the Cow and Calf Rock  formations on the Ilkley Moor Site of Special Scientific Interest in North Yorkshire, and was meant to only include the movement of a couple of vehicles.

However, Friends of Ilkley Moor chairman Owen Wells said: “A vast amount of equipment was taken up the moor, ruining a path.

“They said they were only going to take a couple of vehicles up.

“They undid a great deal of work to combat erosion and made a hell of a mess. Peat is easily damaged – it is a very fragile ­environment.

“If you send vehicles over you can see the tracks for years.”

A spokesman for Emmerdale said: “If we film anywhere, we always make good afterwards. That’s the agreement.”

Since the complaint, bosses at ITV, who had permission to film there before the stunt took place, have paid contractors £26,000 to repair the damage, as well  donating £2,000 to Friends of Ilkley Moor as a goodwill gesture.

Watch part of the scene that caused all the damage in the clip below:

Emmerdale can be seen week-nights on ITV1/ITV1 HD.