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Written question asked by Paul Kohler (Liberal Democrat) on Thursday, 6 March 2025, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 10 March 2025. It was answered by Mary Creagh (Labour) on Tuesday, 25 March 2025 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Cycleways and Public Footpaths

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an estimate of the number of miles of (a) public footpaths, (b) bridleways, (c) restricted byways and (d) other public (i) walkways and (ii) cycleways in the UK.

Answer

The public rights of way network provides approximately 140,000 miles of linear access in England and Wales, with 83% found in England and 17% in Wales. In England this consists approximately of:

  • 91,000 miles of footpaths
  • 20,000 miles of bridleways
  • 3,700 miles of restricted byways
  • 2,300 miles of byways open to all traffic (BOATs).

In addition, when both the King Charles III England Coast Path and Coast to Coast National Trail are complete, the total length of National Trails in England will be 4,952 miles. Permissive paths also give the public access to large amounts of the English countryside.

The National Cycle Network spans 12,000 miles of signed routes for walking, wheeling and cycling including over 5,000 miles of traffic free paths. There are 2,000 miles of canal towpaths in England and Wales.

Information on overall lengths of publicly maintainable cycleways and footways, along with changes to the public rights of way network and other walkways and cycle paths since 2015 in England is held by the respective local authority. Further information on public rights of way and other public paths or routes in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland is a matter for the Welsh and Scottish Governments and Northern Ireland Executive respectively.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
36305
Session
2024-26
Grouped for answer
Yes
Transferred
Yes
Subjects
Public footpaths Cycleways
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk