QUIET country paths throughout Wiltshire could be in danger after a rise in the number of applications to turn them into byways open to all traffic, including scramble bikes and 4x4 vehicles.

The situation came to light when notices appeared on the path leading from Urchfont, near Devizes, on to Salisbury Plain, which is barely wide enough to take one vehicle.

But, because of a loophole in the 1983 Wildlife and Countryside Act, anyone can apply to have any footpath, no matter how narrow or rich in wildlife, declared a byway open to traffic .

The application, made by Simon Taylor of Bratton, near Westbury, is to turn the bridle path, known as Stonepit Lane, into a byway open to traffic.

This is despite it being no more than six feet wide in places and a haven for birds, mammals, butterflies, moths and wild flowers.

Its chalk surface has already been extensively broken up by vehicles illegally using it and the Urchfont cum Wedhampton Parish Rights of Way Group has been discussing with Wiltshire County Council ways of discouraging scramble bikers and other drivers from using it.

Chairman Paul Melhuish said: "We looked at the possibility of fitting dragon's teeth or a barrier that horses and pedestrians could easily step over but would prevent other traffic from using it.

"The group can't comment on this application because we haven't seen details of it, but we would be unhappy about an increase in vehicle traffic causing further damage."

Peter Newell, chairman of Urchfont Parish Council, said that the council had not been consulted about the application but he was sure his fellow councillors were likely to object.

Although there is ample access on to Salisbury Plain along a tarmac road from nearby Foxley Corner up Redhorn Hill, it is not unusual to see bikes and even 4x4s grinding their way up Stonepit Lane, forcing walkers to stand precariously on the grassy banks on either side.

Mr Taylor was unavailable for comment at the time of going to press.

A spokesman for the rights of way department at County Hall said that they had been inundated with a recent spate of applications to convert bridleways and footpaths to byways open to traffic.

He said the application process was very complex and the current applications were at a very early stage.

To convert a bridleway or footpath into a BOAT, historical documentary evidence was needed that the right of way had been used by wheeled traffic before the 1930 Road Traffic Act.

Alternatively, the applicant could show that the path had been in use by wheeled traffic, without any objection by the landowner, for more than 20 consecutive years."

But wildlife and conservation issues form no part of the arguments, he said.