Where a bridleway designation is not restricted, a gate erected over the line of the way is an unauthorised obstruction, though since every member of the public is entitled to pass and repass along a public road, the rights of each member of the public so to pass are subject to such obstacles, congestion and inconvenience as may be caused by the exercise by other members of the public of their rights to pass and repass along the road. As a matter of law members of the public are entitled to utilise the full width of any footpath over which they have rights of way, subject to a very narrow de minimis exception
Citations:
[1962] 1 WLR 205, [1962] 1 All ER 243
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Mear and others v Cambridgeshire County Council ChD 20-Oct-2006
The claimants sought a declaration that a path over neighbouring land was a public vehicular highway as recorded by the respondents, and not a footpath as asserted by the owners, and that gates over the path infringed the public rights. The council . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Land
Updated: 04 May 2022; Ref: scu.245552