AS managers of the Ridgeway Trail get ready to deliver their report on the public inquiry into the world-famous route, controversy has deepened over the use of vehicles on the track.

The National Trails organisation, which looks after the thousand-year- old track, is currently gathering public responses and preparing to make a report on the thorny issue of whether motor vehicles should be allowed on the trail.

Over the years, ramblers, horse riders, cyclists and groups like the Friends of the Ridgeway have protested vigorously that vehicles, especially 4x4s, are destroying the surface of the ancient track.

Peter Gould from the Friends of the Ridgeway said: "You only have to look at the track surface to see the damage that is being done.

"In the winter the mud is inches deep, which makes walking there a nightmare, and in the summer the ruts dry like concrete and it becomes quite dangerous to walk along it.

"We have had several people sustaining some nasty ankle sprains, and I know a lot of dedicated walkers who have stopped walking on the trail because it just isn't a pleasure any more.

"Although most of our members are walkers, we have no quarrel with horse riders and cyclists and even the odd carriage driver, who all use the trail with consideration for other users. The problem we have is with a small minority of 4x4 drivers who tear up the surface so that the trail is spoiled for everyone.

"When the Ridgeway was closed to vehicles during the foot and mouth crisis, the difference in the surface was amazing.

"For the first time in years we saw the surface green and covered in flowers, and it was a pleasure to walk on again."

Pensioner Jane Ebbutt, of Aldbourne, agreed: "I have walked the Ridgeway for almost 30 years, and to my sadness I have watched it deteriorate during that time to become the churned up mess it is now.

"During winter it is thick mud that totally spoils the pleasure of walking. I measured one rut that was 18 inches deep, and half filled with water.

"I had a back operation a couple of years ago, and I have to walk with two sticks, which makes me very wary when I am slipping and sliding about.

"Then in summer the ruts dry out and you twist your ankle falling off them.

"I understand that the agricultural vehicles have to go up there, and they are always very considerate to the trail, and go into the fields wherever possible.

"Our real problem is with the pleasure 4x4s.

"I don't want to deny anybody their fun, but there are plenty of other places to drive 4x4s off-road, without spoiling the pleasure of walkers, cyclists and horse riders and destroying an ancient bit of Britain's heritage."

However, drivers like Brian Freegard of Glevum Close, Purton, says that the Ridgeway should be open to all, not restricted to walkers.

He said: "The right for vehicles to use the King's (Or Queen's) Highway has been enshrined for all in Common Law and cannot be removed except by an Act of Parliament."

In response to this controversy, the National Trails organisation conducted a three-month public inquiry into the management of the trail, and people were invited to have their say.

Rebecca Wilson, from National Trails, said: "We had a very good response to the survey.

Hundreds of people wrote in to share their views, talking about trail management, and the most common theme was that of motorised vehicles on the trail.

"We are currently looking at all the responses, and will try to take into account what people want.

"As the trail is a designated byway we cannot ban vehicles, but the Highways Agency can recommend it if it is being seen as enough of a problem. However we see this as a last ditch solution.

"We will now be looking at other measures.

"They could include surface repair, adding stones to the path and perhaps dividing the trail into sections for walkers and motor vehicles as well."

National Trails will be presenting its report in March.