WALKERS and councillors are pressing for a piece of land, used for years as a public footpath, to be officially designated.

The issue came to the fore at Pickering Town Council when members were told that the land, which links a right of way from Porter’s headland to Wells Walk, had been blocked by a landowner.

Now, the Pickering Walkers are Welcome group and the council say it should be formally recognised as a right of way after several residents confirmed it had been used for at least 28 years. Some said they remembered a stile and a kissing gate on the walkway.

Sam Borman of Pickering, a member of the walking group, said attempts can be made to have a piece of land dedicated as a public footpath on the definitive map if it has been used for a continuous period of 20 years.

Now Mr Borman wants people who have used that stretch of land during the past 20 years to come forward to provide evidence of its use.

“We want different people who have walked it during the past 20 years,” he said, “although the same people have not necessarily used it for the whole of that period.”

Pickering Walkers are to pursue their campaign and have asked other residents to back it by providing evidence on forms available at the town council office in the Memorial Hall.