A CODE of practice that has helped people enjoy the countryside for 50 years was re-launched yesterday.

The new Countryside Code is an updated version of the advice put out for potential visitors when Britain's first national parks were created in the 1950s.

It has been re-branded to raise awareness of how people treat rural areas, ahead of new laws that will open up vast tracts of countryside to the public.

It offers guidelines on litter, use of the natural habitat, dog control and respect for other countryside users.

Countryfile presenter John Craven said: "Huge areas of Britain are about to be opened up to us. If we are all to benefit, we must make sure those who walk across it use it and do not abuse it."

In the North-East, 458 square miles of land will become open access, as part of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act (2000).

The Countryside Agency has started mapping the areas and they are expected to be open when the Act comes into force next May.

Huw Davies, regional director of the Countryside Agency, said: "We are becoming very much a throw-away society and we have got to re-educate younger people on how to behave in the countryside."

For the first time, the code also includes a section for the land owners and managers.

North-East landowners reacted with mixed feelings.

They welcomed the code, but called for more clarification over the Right to Roam strapline that has been tagged to the new Act.

Douglas Chalmers, regional director North of the Country Land and Business Association, said: "As long as this Right to Roam misconception continues, we are storing up potential misunderstandings, confusion and danger.

"If these visitors are misled by careless terminology into thinking they can go anywhere at any time, we risk confusion, disappointment, possible confrontation and a real chance of danger."