A COUNTRYSIDE open day is due to be held at a Ribble Valley beauty spot next month.

Lancashire County Council is staging the event to raise people's awareness of new land laws and show how the changes will affect them.

The new legislation - which regards rights of way and access for walkers - is set to come into force in September.

On Sunday January 11 the first of a number of workshops aimed at promoting the profile of the new open country legislation will be held.

The County Council said the public will have new rights of access on foot for open-air recreation on access land.

In Lancashire it would mean that an area of land bigger than 40,000 football pitches will be opened up.

The public, landowners and farmers are invited to go to the Bowland Visitor Centre at Beacon Fell from 10am to find out more about what the new legislation means and how it will affect them.

The council's countryside service staff will be available all morning to discuss, in an informal setting, the rights and responsibilities of walkers and landowners.

There will also be provisional maps on display so that the public can see which land will be affected and information to read and take away.

In the afternoon a "basic navigation" course to introduce map and compass techniques will be held.

The county council said it needed to limit the number of places on the course to insure the quality of instruction.

To book a place contact 01995 640557.