30 July 2025
You can take several steps to prevent members of the public from acquiring a right of way, including putting up signs to inform walkers they are trespassing without your permission. You should also put up gates and fences, taking photos for evidence. If a walking group has started using your land as a cut-through, they should be stopped and told they are trespassing.
If you chose to take a more lenient view, you could put up signs to say their use of the route is with permission. Ultimately, you must communicate that you have no intention to dedicate a particular route as a right of way, and alternatively, that you permit their use of the route, which can be withdrawn at any time. A landowner’s acquiescence in, or toleration of, the use of the land, can give rise to rights being acquired over time (20 years), if these steps are not taken. This means that a use of a way “as of right” can still exist even if the landowner knows about the use and does nothing about it.
It is important that you can demonstrate through overt and clear actions a consistent and clear lack of intention to dedicate the land as a public right of way.
To prevent trespassing, you can submit a declaration under s31(6) of the Highways Act. This clarifies that there is no intention to dedicate a new right of way. It needs to be renewed every 10 years, and we can help with this process.
If walkers have been using your land over a longer period, they may seek to make an application to the council for the path to be made a public right of way by applying to their Local Authority for a Definitive Map Modification Order (DMMO).
Once submitted, the Local Authority first has to consult with the landowner and decide whether to make a draft DMMO for the new path. If that draft order is made, the landowner can object and the issue will be decided by a planning inspector.
For advice and guidance on public rights of way and other rural legal matters, JCP Solicitors can help. Email rhys.evans@jcpsolicitors.co.uk or call the Haverfordwest office on 01437 764 723.
