Members of the public do not have automatic and unfettered rights to walk over agricultural and other private land. However, they do have rights of access to certain areas of land under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. This right is commonly known as the ‘right to roam’ or ‘freedom to roam’.
Members of the public have a lawful right of access over:
This land is known as ‘access land’.
The public do not have an absolute right to use open access land. For instance, some land will be shown on a map as open access land but remains private land. This is called ‘excepted land’, and you cannot access it except by using dedicated public rights of way.
This includes parks and gardens, houses, buildings and the land they’re on; agricultural land; building sites and land being developed, golf courses and racecourses, railways and tramways and working quarries. Land covered by pens used for the temporary keeping of livestock, and land used for racehorse training is also excepted.
In addition, there is no right to roam over registered common land found in Inner London which is not shown on the map, or over land used by the military.
The right to roam allows the public to enter and remain on open access land for the purposes of open-air recreation. However, they must not commit any criminal offences on the land, or break or damage any walls, fences, hedges, etc, and they must abide by other restrictions.
If a member of the public breaches these conditions or restrictions, they are treated as a trespasser and are prohibited from going on the land (or land owned by the same person) for 72 hours after leaving the land.
There are a number of general restrictions on the public right of access, including:
The following activity on access land is strictly prohibited:
Landowners and occupiers can, subject to certain exceptions, exclude or restrict public access to their land for up to 28 days each calendar year. They must give notice to Natural England or Natural Resources Wales(or in the case of National Parks, the National Park authority). Landowners can also restrict access by dog walkers over moorland where grouse are bred and shot, or over any land which is being used for lambing.
Landowners and occupiers can also apply to Natural England or Natural Resources Wales (or the National Park authority), for permission to exclude or restrict public access to their land for land management purposes.
However, landowners and occupiers are prohibited from deterring public use of access land by putting signs up which are likely to deter the public from exercising their rights. They may be fined if they do so.
Where there is a risk of fire or there is a danger to the public, the above authorities have power to restrict or exclude public access to land. They also have the power to restrict or exclude public access to land for the purposes of nature conservation and heritage preservation.
Nicola is a dual qualified journalist and non-practising solicitor. She is a legal journalist, editor and author with more than 20 years' experience writing about the law.
When you submit your details, you'll be in safe hands. Our partners are National Accident Helpline (a brand of National Accident Law, a firm of personal injury solicitors regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority). They are the UK's leading personal injury service. Their friendly legal services advisers will call you to talk about your claim and give you free, no-obligation advice. National Accident Law may pay us a marketing fee for our services.
By submitting your personal data, you agree for your details to be sent to National Accident Law so they can contact you to discuss your claim.
If you win your case, your solicitor's success fee will be taken from the compensation you are awarded - up to a maximum of 25%. Your solicitor will discuss any fees before starting your case.
