STOP THE CAR; `Star Wars' system immobilizes motorists.(News)

Byline: NIGEL BURNHAM

In the early '90s the North York Moors, beauty spot of Goathland, became a tourist hot spot after a television station used the village as a backdrop for a new series about the trials and tribulations of a 1960s village policeman.

Heartbeat became a hit British TV series and put Goathland firmly on the day trippers' road map. The village has become a shrine to the show, with every other house now a gift shop selling Heartbeat jigsaw puzzles, mugs and soft toys.

But locals are concerned that those tourists now may have a reason to shun Goathland: the proximity of Royal Air Force Fylingdales, the early warning station that the British government has told President George W. Bush he can use as an integral part of his "Son of Star Wars'' national missile defense scheme.

The jury is out over whether the high-powered pulses of electromagnetic radiation emitted by the base (which is almost identical to Cape Cod Air Force Station in Massachusetts) pose a risk to human health. Although some scientists believe it could, in a recent visit to the area, British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon claimed there was "no risk to the health of local people or livestock.''

But motorists are already feeling the effects. There have been numerous reports in recent months of visitors to the moorland beauty spot finding themselves stranded because the beams of radar pulsing from Fylingdales have triggered their car alarms and car immobilizers, which operate on the same frequency. Drivers of some makes of cars, and many motorcyclists have been left trapped in the village and have had to be towed out of range of the base before they could restart their vehicles.

"I have gotten stuck there three times in less than two weeks, and have to keep calling ...