No havoc on the hills

The article "Bid to ban off-road vehicles set to fail" presented a sensible, well-argued defence of the situation regarding the banning of vehicles from the Shropshire Hills. It is unfortunate that any defence was required in order to protect drivers' rights to use what are in fact public highways supported by the levy of road taxation.

I would be interested in hearing of the claims of so called "havoc" caused by the quad bikes and 4x4 vehicles.

I drove the lanes in the area on a warm, sunny Sunday two weeks ago. I encountered several riders on horseback, two motorcyclists, four 4x4 drivers and only three walkers on the lanes that I am obliged to use although I did see many other walkers using other routes which I cannot legally drive. All of the other users were enjoying their day out and all were travelling at a sedate walking pace.

It was fantastic to see so many people using the hills and I encountered no conflict or "havoc" in the 15 miles of unsurfaced routes I covered.

The use of vehicles on unsurfaced highways in the countryside will always be emotive. The percentage of routes that are legally drivable is miniscule in comparison to the routes that can be travelled by foot, horse or pedal cycle.

I continually have to defend my right to partake in a legal activity on routes that are legal to drive because I pursue a minority hobby of driving in the countryside. I hope that everybody that visits an Area Of Natural Beauty has an attitude of "live and let live" but I fear that such a thing is now too much to ask.

Nick Dimarco, Herefordshire