RAMBLERS in Wiltshire are worried that too many footpaths are becoming impassable as land owners fail to keep hedges under control.

They are also concerned that Government bodies in charge of rights of way do not have enough funding to help keep them clear.

A West Wilts Ramblers work party led by Paul Millard, the countryside access officer for central Wiltshire, saw the problems for themselves in a village near Devizes.

They have been hard at work in Easterton clearing a path and putting up a bridle gate.

Members found the going tough as the footpath was overgrown and a hedge and brambles had been allowed to get out of control.

Footpath secretary Brian Micklam said: “The width was reduced by a fallen fence, including barbed wire, that had collapsed onto the path and was buried under the weight of brambles and tree branches.

“I was concerned that the landowner did not realise that encroaching hedges and overhanging vegetation were overgrowing a collapsing fence or that the landowner’s realised it was their responsibility to keep the path clear.”

Now the problem has been discovered it will be the responsibility of Easterton Parish and Wiltshire Rights of Way and Countryside Department to inform the landowner.

Judy Hible the acting chairman of Wiltshire and Swindon Ramblers said that too many paths are becoming unusable.

She said: “They are too narrow to be mechanically cleared.”

She and Mr Micklam are also worried that the Rights of Way and Countryside Department do not have resources to maintain the footpath network.

Mr Micklam, who last year was presented with a Rambler Association volunteer award, has taken up their fears about the lost paths with Wiltshire Council and his local MP Michelle Donelan.