Ref. 289976ALL motorised vehicles, including motorcycles, have been banned from using a four-mile stretch of the ancient Ridgeway.

After months of debate Wilt-shire Country Council is banning vehicles from Smeathe's Ridge, which runs from Barbury Castle to Ogbourne St George.

At a meeting this week officers voted to push ahead with proposals to introduce a Traffic Regulation Order.

It will mean vehicles using the ridge will face prosecution, apart from agricultural and maintenance vehicles.

Before the decision was made, the council consulted scores of residents and users of the trail.

As a result 397 letters were received, of which 323 were in support of the ban and 74 against.

Council papers given to the Advertiser rubbished claims by 4x4 users that tractors and other agricultural traffic were to blame for the damage.

The report's author Paul Gerrard, highway project manager, said: "The existing route is being damaged. There is a minimum of agricultural traffic and no evidence of damage by horse use.

"The damage is clearly caused by motor vehicles."

Ian Ritchie, of the Friends Of The Ridgeway group, which was formed in 1982 to protect the trail, is delighted.

He said: "I believe Wiltshire Council has been bold and courageous in taking this step.

"The use of vehicles on the Ridgeway is an increasing problem and beautiful areas are being ruined. The Ridgeway is the oldest known road in the country and it deserves special protection."

Mr Ritchie says this part of the trail could now recover in as little as two seasons.

He said: "Nature can repair the damage quickly if vehicles are kept off. Hopefully it will not be long before we have green paths again for everybody to enjoy."

The ban will anger drivers who use the ridge for recreational purposes. They have always insisted that the council has a duty to protect the rights of legitimate users.

Last week Rural Affairs minister Alun Michael said the law had to move with the times.

He said: "The use made of them (trails) today is often inconsistent with the uses for which they were originally established in many cases before the internal combustion engine was invented."

The key move which led to this week's ban was the Railways and Transport Safety Act 2003, which contains a provision allowing a section to be added. Under this, orders can be made on long distance routes.

But Paul Harrison, 43, from Marlborough, who rides his trail bike on the Ridgeway, says the ban will be difficult to enforce.

He said: "I am extremely disappointed. The council wants to remove all vehicles from unsealed roads. Although the Ridgeway does not look like a road, it is one."

Mr Harrison, a member of the Swindon branch of the Trail Riders' Fellowship, compared this debate to the fox-hunting row.

He said: "I put myself in the same boat as the law-abiding members of the Country Alliance. They are not breaking the law and neither am I.

"The fellowship is committed to conservation and regularly clears the paths for everyone to enjoy. What will happen if it decides to stop doing that?"