A SEVEN-year dispute over an ancient right of way in idyllic countryside has ended in victory for ramblers.
The final blow in the long running battle was delivered after footpath guardians admitted a blunder and council workmen were sent, shovels in hand, to remove a fence which blocked the width of the historic pathway.
Now walkers are celebrating the right to roam the full length of footpath number 12 at Over Alderley.
Spokesman, Anita Armstrong-Lee, who was secretary of Alderley Edge,Wilmslow and District Footpaths Preservation Society when the dispute began in 1999, said:
"We are quite joyful because we have been battling this since January 1999 when we became aware that we were unable to use the full width of the path. "Even though we could still get through it was an obstruction and we were confined up against the hedge of Finlow Hill Cottage. It was a horrible little path and people had to walk in each other's footsteps which meant it became boggy.
"The footpath has been used by the public for many years and the law states that it cannot be extinguished or moved to one side.
"We understood that the owner had been given permission to have the track shifted, but there should not have been a change.
"You should be able to walk along the path with a friend, or with a buggy or a dog without feeling closed in otherwise you lose your sense of enjoyment.
"Unfortunately land owners today are unaware of the history surrounding these rights of way and often claim the land as their own.
"I'm glad that the path has been given back to the public."
The dispute started when adjacent landowner Nicholas Cassel, of Finlow Hill Farm, took a slice of the footpath after being granted permission to divert the route by Cheshire County Council. He put up a fence to incorporate the disputed land into to his driveway squeezing ramblers out.
Neighbours John and Joan Walton, who also disputed the footpath diversion said the fence confined walkers to the verge directly behind their garden hedge.
Mr Walton, 74, said: "We have lived here for many years and we just want everything to remain as it always has been. There has always been a public right of way here and after researching it ourselves we found that what the council had given Mr Cassel permission to do was illegal. The public is entitled to the full width.
"The county solicitor then became involved and he agreed with us in the end. We have since taken action to get the path restored and the case, which went in our favour, was dealt with at a court hearing in Liverpool. He was refused leave to appeal against the decision, but has been told he can make an oral appeal against this at the appeal court in London.
"We're in limbo at the moment because we don't know what's going to happen next or whether he's appealing against it.
"We do not want to make trouble, we just want a quiet life and for everything to go back the way it was. But it is costing us thousands of pounds in the process."
Mrs Walton, 62, added: "We have lived here for 37 years and have raised our family here. We have never had any problems with the neighbours before and we like the fact that the path is used by ramblers; in fact we quite missed them during the foot and mouth crisis."
Jogger, Bryony Ashton, who is a regular user of the footpath said: "We jog along the path twice a week and we were unaware of any dispute until recently - it hasn't affected us."
Mr Cassel declined to comment.
Daniel Dickinson, solicitor for Cheshire County Council, said: "Officers from Cheshire County Council's Public Rights of Way Unit attended Public Footpath 12 in Over Alderley on the morning of May 18 to remove unlawful obstructions from the footpath pursuant to the council's statutory and common law duties as highway authority for the administrative county of Cheshire. The works to remove the obstructions were undertaken in accordance with a notice that was served on the occupiers of the land adjoining the footpath on March 24.
