POP icon Madonna has won the first stage of a privacy battle to stop people walking through the grounds of her Cranborne Chase home.

The actress and singer has successfully appealed to the Countryside Agency to prevent the land being classified as open countryside under new Right to Roam legislation.

Madonna and her husband, Guy Ritchie, asked for the public to be kept off the estate, amid concerns about their privacy and the safety of their two young children.

Currently, two paths run through the couple's land, which is a popular spot with ramblers.

If the estate were classed as open countryside, a footway would take walkers just 100m from the front door of the Grade Two listed manor house.

A spokesman for the Countryside Agency said the singer's needs had been taken into consideration during an on-going consultation.

"We are currently undertaking the biggest mapping exercise this country has ever seen, with the classification of all land in the light of Right to Roam legislation.

"It may be that some of the classifications turned out to be incorrect, and there is a straightforward process for landowners to object.

"If this land owned by Madonna does not meet the criteria for open countryside, it will need to be reclassified when the maps are drawn."

However, the Ramblers Association, which campaigns for the right to roam and open access to the countryside, said the singer would have to go through more legal wrangling before she could permanently keep the walkers out.

Ron Moore, chairman of the Wiltshire and Swindon branch, said: "In common with other landowners, Madonna's agents will be able to appeal against the inclusion and may well have done so.

"However, to succeed, they will need to show that the land in question does not comply with the definition of open countryside.

"No appeals are due to be heard before the end of August and maybe much later, so it is premature to claim that anyone has won."

This is not the first time the star has encountered difficulties in preventing the public from entering her Tollard Royal estate.

Last September, she was forced to apply for retrospective planning permission, after security gates were erected without Salisbury district council's consent.