NORTH Yorkshire County Council has come under fire from the British Horse Society (BHS) for not following its own policy on ensuring bridleways are kept open.

The BHS says the authority is failing to meet the needs of horse riders using a bridleway near the A19 at Bagby, Thirsk, where the landowner has ploughed the right of way. It claims riders have been forced on to the busy and dangerous road.

It says that user groups, including the Ramblers' Association and the BHS, agreed a re-routing of the bridleway in the summer to the edge of the field instead of cutting across it, to make ploughing easier for the farmer concerned.

Mr John Hall, legal and technical officer for the BHS, said: "The law allows a farmer to plough a path that crosses a field, provided he makes good straight away, but there is no defence for ploughing a field edge path.

"North Yorkshire County Council promoted a new flagship policy this summer, saying that it would be firm but fair over this type of problem. However, it is being inconsistent in taking action in some cases, but not in others."

Mr Graham Cressey, traffic management and development control manager at North Yorkshire County Council, said that the authority was following policy, but bad weather had prevented it and landowners carrying out the work.

He said: "The land owner, as far as the county council is concerned, did plan out the diverted bridleway. It is level now, but there is further work required to the surface of the bridleway.

"We have followed our policy, we did advise the land owner and tell him he had to put the surface right, which he has agreed to do, but obviously during autumn and recent weeks we have had severe weather.

"He couldn't get machinery on the land to do the work, so we have had to adopt a very pragmatic approach, as we have had to do across the county, due to these weather conditions.

Mr Cressey added: "The land owner has assured us that once he can get on to the land to do the work he will."