A RAMBLING group leader fears public footpaths could become impassable after maintenance funding was slashed by more than half.

Michael Counter, footpath secretary for Blackburn with Darwen Ramblers, believes the cut would make the borough’s 280 miles of public rights of way harder to manage, seriously undermining efforts to make the routes more accessible and encourage more residents into walking.

His warning came after he found several routes that had become badly overgrown.

Mr Counter, who has been a member of the society for 40 years, felt that a failure to address long grasses, broken stiles and blocked drains could eventually render some routes unusable.

Staff working in Blackburn Council’s Public Right of Way service have been forced to find savings after it its maintenance budget was drastically reduced from £87,500 to £38,100.

This has led to the decision to prioritise looking after highly popular pathways in the area.

Mr Counter said: “The cuts haven’t been in force for long but already we are seeing the effects.

“Some areas have been particularly tricky to walk through recently and I’m not sure that people will attempt them if they aren’t accompanied by an experienced rambler. It’s only going to get much worse if funding isn’t reintroduced and could lead to some paths becoming completely inaccessible if flooding occurs.I’ve got sympathy for the council staff who are in charge of maintaining a lot of the public rights of way because their office has exper-ienced drastic cuts but it is a shame that these routes are under threat.

“So much work has been done to make them more accessible, to get people to walk further and to count-eract the bad reputation that Blackburn had in rambling circles around eight years ago.”

George Bell, associate director of highways and transportation, urged residents to contact the council’s voluntary led Your Call campaign to help counter the problem.

He said: “The Public Right of Way service has experienced severe cuts in its maintenance funding for 2013/14 and has had to find savings within its maintenance activities.

“Although the cut of vegetation on public right of way areas won’t be as often, the council is working to focus its efforts on areas where path use is high and where there are safety concerns.”

Anyone who would like to help improve a right of way should call 01254 585921.