Protesters claiming that a local bridleway is to be made unsafe for horses as part of a project to build a nationwide cycle path network were meeting council chiefs today to find a solution.

Riders and residents in the Linton-on-Ouse area are furious that a sandy track called Hag Lane, between Youlton and Linton-on-Ouse, which they use to exercise their horses is being covered in a hard surface as part of the Sustrans national cycle way.

They fear it will lame horses - and they were meeting at Youlton this afternoon with representatives from Hambleton District Council, North Yorkshire County Council and Sustrans to discuss the problem.

Today's meeting follows an earlier meeting last week.

Meanwhile, as controversy continues to dog the Sustrans cycle route through the Vale of York, with some parish councils along the route expressing concern about safety and the volume of cyclists it might bring to their villages, a new map has been drawn up,

including three detours from the original route, to take into account their concerns.

The district council plans to publish the map and monitor all the routes for 12 months in an effort to iron out any potential problems.The map will be discussed by district councillors at a meeting on Thursday.

The cycle way stretches from Beningbrough Hall to Middlesbrough.

Under the revised map, the three off-shoots will be:

West of the A19 linking Easingwold and Thirsk;

Between Kilburn, Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe and Felixkirk and;

From White Horse bank to the Sutton Bank Visitor Centre on to Hawnby and Osmotherley.

The budget for the Sustrans route through the Vale of York is £110,000, with Hambleton District Council putting up the lion's share of £70,000.

The route is largely based on existing cycle ways, with only the stretch at Youlton needing to be built.

The bulk of the money is to pay for signs along the route and traffic calming in some villages, including Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe.

David Goodwin, Hambleton's head of leisure services, said it was hoped the monitoring period would eradicate any problems.

He said: "Some of the problems that are being put forward we are not able to answer.

"Some are saying they are concerned that 500 cyclists will be coming into their village every day.

"But Sustrans say from their monitoring it will be more like 50.

"Who is right? We won't know until we give it a go."

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