Your favourite short cut home or the path you use every day to walk your dog could be lost forever, the Ramblers warns today, as it names the councils where your rights of way are most at risk.

Today (8 July) Britain’s walking charity launches the ‘Dead End’ campaign, which highlights the most pressing path issues across the country as local authorities slash their rights of way budgets. The Dead End campaign urges local authorities to reprioritise walkers and pedestrians, and offers expertise and practical help from local volunteers to lend a hand before the country ends up with nothing but a series of dead ends.

Rachel Alcock, Ramblers Campaigns Officer, comments: “By neglecting paths, councils risk damaging people’s basic ability to get from A to B – difficult paths will soon become impossible to use, creating dead ends across the network.

“Walking is a low cost leisure activity, proven to help both physical and mental wellbeing, which is particularly important in these difficult financial times.

“The Ramblers is offering expertise, with practical help and advice, to work with all councils and put pedestrians and walkers back at the top of their priority list.”

Britain’s walking charity is urging councils to seek the Ramblers’ help in maximising their resources. The charity has 12,000 volunteers around the country, all keen to take practical action to help safeguard the places where people walk.

Ramblers CEO, Tom Franklin, will be in Cornwall today (8 July), which is third on the ‘at risk’ list, to launch the campaign. He will see first-hand how years of neglect and prioritisation have left some ‘second class’ paths unusable but also highlight how new relationships between Ramblers volunteers and the council are starting to reap more positive results. He commented:

“With cuts going on in different services across the country footpaths may not seem a top priority; but creating a good walking environment is a realistic, low cost way for both people and the government to meet their health and transport needs.

“Ramblers volunteers have started working with some councils to overcome these problems but we must step up this campaign or risk losing paths forever.

“We want to get the country on its feet but first we need the footpaths to do it.”

For further details on the ‘Dead End’ campaign, visit: www.ramblers.org.uk/Campaigns+Policy/deadend