Farmers and landowners are worried that another town-v-country row is looming over new calls for access to rivers by canoeists, coastal paths through private land by ramblers, and demands that livestock grazing should be restricted in fields where people walk.

Three people have been killed this summer whilst walking their dogs by cows with young calves. Farmers believe that people should have more sense – all mother animals will defend their offspring if they fear they are under attack – but there are calls in some areas to ban cattle from these fields.

This has caused the Country Land and Business Association to ask: who will pay for this access for all?

New Labour introduced the so-called Right to Roam acts soon after its election under pressure from the Ramblers’ Association. It gave walkers access to millions of acres of private land and led to bitter disputes about the invasion of the owners’ privacy: some paths led through people’s back gardens!

That controversy had finally subsided without too much bitterness but this summer, Left-leaning activists have stepped up their demands for even greater access to coastal walks through private estates and access to all waterways – including prize salmon rivers – by canoeists.

But the CLA points out that land – and fishing rights – are part of the countryside economy. Country folk have a right to pursue their business interests and have their property rights respected in the same way that urban householders protect access to their homes and gardens.

Says Douglas Chalmers, director of CLA North: “Interest in the countryside is to be welcomed, but ‘being interested’ is not the same as ‘having an interest’. There has to be recognition of the property rights of private individuals.

“A high profile entertainer, described as a ‘national treasure’, has called for open access to all our rivers. I would expect him, as a media professional, to be fully aware of the issues on both sides of the debate before he uses the vehicle of television - or more accurately a canoe - to make his claim.

“Some people demand the right to walk our entire coastline, regardless of the economic and environmental consequences and, to satisfy these minority wishes, millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money are being spent.

“To our members, their land is a business. It is where they earn their living, and it is also their home.”