Defra scraps England deadline to register thousands of miles of rights of way

A deadline for registering historic rights of way is to be scrapped after a warning that the looming cutoff date could result in the loss of thousands of miles of footpaths.

The last government set a deadline of 2031 for all rights of way in England to be added to an official map, after abandoning a previous commitment to scrap the policy.

Once recorded as rights of way and added to the definitive map, paths are protected under the law for people to use.