The British Mountaineering Council has bought a Lancashire crag to secure the future of climbing on its outcrops.

Craig y Longridge, near the Bowland town from which it takes its name, was almost filled in to create a building plot at one point, and climbers had faced increasing problems using the facility.

Climbers on Craig y Longridge 

Andy Keen 

The owner, who had a nearby caravan park, had become concerned about liability. Local cragrats raised £4,000 and the British Mountaineering Council (BMC) chipped in with the rest. The sale of the 4m-high gritstone face, which stretches for more than 100m, was completed this week.

The crag, which overhangs by 20 degrees, is renowned for its strength building routes and as a bouldering practice site. Climbers had been asked not to use the cliff while negotiations over the sale were taking place. Fundraising for the purchase began three years ago.

Music and dogs will be banned from the site as one of the conditions of the sale, as will any climbing activity after sunset or before 10am.

The BMC now intends to set up a management group for the crag.