The farmer put a fence in his field and it ruined my favorite walk. What can I do? DEAN DUNHAM answers
My local walk was recently ruined.
Families from the area used to cross the top of a farm field with permitted priority, but now he has erected a fence – which is so close to the border that we can only walk in single file.
Do we have rights?
SH, Kent.
Hiking Row: A reader is baffled after a local farmer erected a fence along a priority path on their favorite hiking trail (file photo)
Dean Dunham replies: A ‘right of way’ is a legal right to dispose of someone else’s property – in this case a farmer’s plot – usually recorded on a so-called ‘definitive map’.
In some cases, the final map and accompanying statement may contain additional information about a right-of-way, including its width. However, this is not always the case.
If the width is not shown on the final map and there is no other evidence of the width of the route, the right-of-way must be sufficiently wide for two users to pass safely.
On a footpath this will be based on walkers, while on a bridleway passing horses must be taken into account.
Minimum widths are specified for certain conditions, such as recovery from ploughing, and these can give a rough idea of what the minimum is likely to be considered reasonable.
These widths are 1m (3ft 2in) for a footpath running across the field; 1.5m (4ft 9in) for a field edge path; 2m (6ft 5in) for a bridleway across the field; and 3 meters (9ft 8in) for any other route.
Any restriction imposed on the legal width of a public right of way, such as the farmer’s erection of a fence as you have described, is an illegal obstruction and should be removed.
You now need to measure the width of the path to ensure it is at least the minimum width described above.
If this is not the case, the fence is considered an obstacle and the farmer will legally have to remove it.
Public rights of way are typically enforced by local highway authorities, usually county councils or national park authorities.
These authorities have legal duties to establish, maintain and protect public rights of way to ensure that they remain open and accessible for public use.
Who took my £100 cash from my handbag?
I accidentally left my handbag in a shop and when I returned I found it had been handed over to the staff and put behind the till.
My credit cards were still in my bag, but £100 in cash was missing. Can I do anything?
HW, via email.
Dean Dunham replies: From the moment you left your handbag in the store, until it was handed over to an employee, the store owners had no responsibility for it.
This is because the store had not agreed to take responsibility for your belongings at that time.
But the moment your bag was handed over, the store agreed to take possession of it.
In these circumstances the general rule is that he was obliged to take reasonable care of it.
So the question here is: at what point was the £100 stolen or lost?
If this happened before your bag was returned to the checkout, the store will not be liable. If it did, the store could be held liable unless it can prove that it took steps to take ‘reasonable’ care of the luggage. bag – which probably means keeping it in a safe place.
Your next step will therefore be to ask the store if it has CCTV footage that can help identify what happened and when.
If you can’t get proof to answer this question, you have nowhere to go as you can’t force the store to refund you.
However, you can of course ask the store management if they will reimburse you in whole or in part, as your request may be answered positively.
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