LANDOWNERS and ramblers have been urged to make their voices heard on the Government's "right to roam" bill.

The Countryside Agency has drawn up draft maps showing areas of the countryside where the public could have new rights to walk.

Three months of public consultation ends on March 10, and any comment on the contents and accuracy of the maps must be received by then.

The Countryside and Rights of Way Act, introduced in 2000, will give people a new right to walk over open country - mountains, moor, heath and downland - and registered common land.

The area, known as the Upper North West, spans from Carlisle to Hexham in the north, down to Ripon and Harrogate in the east and from Skipton to Kirkby Lonsdale in the south.

Over a third of land in the area is affected.

Senior countryside officer Paul Mutch said: "Once we have completed mapping this area, over 4,000 square kilometres of land could be opened for the public to enjoy.

"The new access rights from the Countryside and Rights of Way Act mean that people will be able to walk freely across open countryside and wild,

remote, areas of the region that until now have been closed to the public.

"It is important to realise that this map is a draft, and that we need people to look at and comment on it.

"Landowners, ramblers and the wider general public all need to give us their views and their information in writing by March 10, when the consultation period closes.

"A provisional map of registered common land and open country will then be issued reflecting any changes, which people with a legal interest in the land, such a landowners or tenants, can appeal against if they disagree with it."

The draft map can still be seen on the agency's website at www.countryside.gov.uk/access/mapping and in some local authority offices, libraries and visitor centres.

To find out the nearest place to look at the map call the Countryside Agency's mapping helpline on 0845 100 3298.

Updated: 10:24 Thursday, February 27, 2003