Government accused of U-turn on England footpath promise

Walking groups say government reneged on scrapping deadline to register historic rights of way

England is at risk of losing precious footpaths as walking groups accuse the government of U-turning on a promise to scrap a deadline for registering them.

There are many historic pathways across England that are rights of way but have been “lost” and are currently part of private land. Campaigners have been trying to register them to make them once again legally binding rights of way by using old maps where the paths appeared.