Iron Age trail undergoes repair

Walkers and cyclists will be allowed to use the Iron Age track

Major stretches of wear and tear suffered by a prehistoric trail are to be repaired over the coming weeks.

Horses and vehicles will be banned from The Ridgeway while the work is carried out at a number of sites between Lewknor and Watlington, Oxfordshire.

Council countryside officers are looking to remove "significant and continuous" sections of potholes.

Walkers and cyclists will be allowed to use the Iron Age track while the work, which begins this week, takes place.

'Essential repairs'

The scheme will see a new sub-base laid where the natural surface has worn away, as well as some new drainage.

Roger Belson, the county council's cabinet member for sustainable development, said: "This is essential repair work and we are very grateful to the landowners for their full cooperation."

The work is part of a two-year action plan to improve the surface of the whole of the Ridgeway National Trail from the start at Overton Hill in Wiltshire through to the finish at Ivinghoe Beacon in Buckinghamshire.

Motorised vehicles were banned from using the Ridgeway between 1 October and 30 April to help preserve its surface.