New footpath signs under attack

The signs are concreted into the ground

Efforts to open up the countryside to walkers and tourists in Carmarthenshire are being hampered by concerted attacks on footpath signs.

More than 50 of the 130 erected during the last year have been ripped down.

Campaigners say those responsible must be prosecuted as they are damaging tourism and putting off walkers.

One estimate puts the total damage at £5,000. Carmarthenshire council has warned anyone caught and prosecuted risks a £1,000 penalty.

Geoffrey Williams, chairman of the Carmarthenshire Access Forum, which represents walkers, landowners and occupiers, said relations in the county had been improving.

But he said the attacks were damaging to tourism and meant walkers were being denied access to parts of the countryside they were entitled to visit.

Where there is hard proof of acts of damage or removal the council will seek to prosecute Eirian James

He also said without regular use such paths quickly fell into disrepair effectively blocking them off.

"I would like to know what is being done about it," he said.

"Are they (Carmarthenshire Council) going to take those responsible, if they are able to prove it, to court?

"Are they going to replace them?"

Mr Williams said the signs were made of metal and had been concreted into the ground so "tractors or large vehicles" must have been used to remove them.

He estimated the damage at over £5,000 as each sign cost around £100.

The council's access manager Eirian James said an enforcement policy on rights of way matters was currently being produced by the council.

"Where there is hard proof of acts of damage, pulling down or removal of any sign or waymark without lawful authority and where 'gentle' enforcement has failed, the council will seek to prosecute," he added.

He said the penalty could be up to £1,000.

"Of the ones removed recently, some have been reinstated without further problems," he said.

Beverley Penny, director of the Ramblers in Wales, said there was a long established legal right to use the footpaths that in some cases dated back many centuries.

"We would call for whoever is responsible to put them back correctly and permanently," she said.