CONFUSED walkers who wrongly believe they have a right to roam the Dales could fall down a mineshaft or be accidentally shot, experts have warned.

New laws mean large areas of the English countryside are now open to the public.

However, the hills and moors of the Yorkshire Dales will remain out of bounds until next year -unless walkers stay on footpaths.

Martin Gillibrand, from the Moorlands Association, which represents grouse shoots in the Dales, said people were unsure about where they were allowed to walk.

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) is so concerned about the problem it has issued a warning to its shoot managers to look out for "confused or misinformed ramblers straying into danger".

Dorothy Fairburn, the CLA's Yorkshire director, said: "Shoot managers who have reviewed their plans or applied for the land to be closed are still concerned because they are encountering people who wrongly believe that there is now a right to roam over the whole of the countryside."

The CLA also said there were numerous unmapped mine shafts and sink-holes in the Dales, which could be dangerous for roaming walkers.

Yesterday, the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority issued a reminder to visitors, residents and landowners that despite the introduction of new access rights in the North-West and South-East of England last month, open access will not be introduced in the national park until May.

Across England, the new legislation gives the public access to about a million hectares (4,000sq miles), which is eight per cent of the country.

In the Yorkshire Dales National Park, the new legislation will increase access from four per cent of land to about 63 per cent.