Ramblers publish list of obstructive landowners

RAMBLERS are publishing a 'list of shame' to expose landowners who try to ban walkers from country footpaths.

The list marks the latest attempt by the Ramblers' Association for access to thousands of miles of public footpaths overgrown with weeds, blocked by barbed wire or ploughed.

The campaigners also plan another Forbidden Britain day - 27 September - when they will walk footpaths owned by unwelcoming or hostile landowners.

Ten million people go rambling at least once a month, which makes a country walk second only to television-watching as a favourite leisure pursuit.

But while the 89,000-strong Ramblers' Association says attitudes by once unfriendly farmers are changing, there are still many areas where walking can be like hacking a way through a jungle.

There are 140,000 miles of rural footpaths in England and Wales and the association's director, Alan Mattingly, said 22,000 miles are 'seriously obstructed' and a similar number 'very difficult'.

He said: 'Attitudes by landowners are changing but unfortunately many individuals are still bloody-minded.'