SHORTLY before Christmas I was out walking with a group from the local Ramblers Association near the Ridgeway.

We were negotiating a green lane which had been reduced to deeply rutted mud by motor vehicles when I slipped and broke my leg in two places.

Thanks in part to the condition of the track ambulance crews took two hours to extricate me and deliver me to hospital. I was operated on the same afternoon.

I am still dragging myself around on crutches: my leg is full of metal-work and will be for the rest of my life. There will be no more healthy exercise in the countryside for me for many weeks to come.

Four and two wheel cross-country vehicle enthusiasts do not seem to appreciate that by exercising their rights to drive down these 'highways' they can effectively prevent their safe enjoyment by others.

John Baldwin

Blunsdon