A FOUR-YEAR wrangle over a country footpath will continue, despite it being declared a public right of way.

Campaigners' joy at the decision to include the route at Howden-le-Wear, near Crook, on the definitive map of public rights of way could be short-lived because the landowner has called for a public inquiry.

In 1998, Fred Wilson put a locked gate across the path, at The Hollow, prompting residents to call for the route to be officially recognised.

Durham County Council's highways committee met at Crook Civic Centre and agreed to make a modification order to record the footpath on the definitive map.

Councillors heard that a track can be deemed a public highway if it has been used by the public without interruption for a 20-year period.

The council considered evidence concerning the period between 1978 and 1998, before the gate was locked.

Councillor Bob Pendlebury declared an interest at the committee meeting but, in his evidence, said he has used the path for more than six decades. Members of Crook and Weardale Ramblers also said that it had been used from at least the 1940s.

Mr Wilson said a court judgement in 1996 declared there was no public access along the route and argued that part of the route was previously used as a scrap yard which prevented public access.