Ramblers call the draft maps "ludicrous"

Barbed wire, dangerous stiles and overgrowth are blocking almost one in three English rural footpaths, a study has found.

A walk in the country has now become more like an obstacle race, according to the study by the Ramblers' Association.

The association says local councils need to spend �70 million to bring the paths up to scratch, after what it called "years of neglect".

Walkers in the English countryside spend more than �6bn a year, the study calculated - supporting up to 254,000 full-time jobs in places like country pubs, garages and B&Bs.

Yet despite the importance of walking to the rural economy, ramblers are being hampered by the poor state of the country's rights of way.

Electric fences

The association said 31% of rural footpaths were "difficult or impossible to use".

There were, on average, five obstructions for every 10km of footpath, it calculated - so a walker would come across a hurdle every 2km.

ENGLAND'S RURAL FOOTPATHS More than 188,000km of rights of way 31% of rural paths "difficult or impossible to use" A walker comes across an obstruction every 2km, on average *Source: Ramblers' Association

The obstructions ranged from steep and slippery slopes to overgrown hedges and unbridged streams, electric fences and misleading signs.

Much of this came from a lack of funding to maintain the paths, the association said - but a "small percentage" was caused by landowners and farmers blocking the rights of way.

Spokesman Paul Bell told BBC News Online: "There was a case in Shropshire, I remember, where a new wire fence was put up which cut across paths in three places.

"Some people literally don't want people walking on their land," he said.

"But it's a very small percentage who block paths deliberately.

"Most is just due to underfunding and neglect."

He said that an initial outlay of �70m would bring all footpaths into a usable state, and then it would take less than �20m a year to maintain them.

This was a "small drop in the ocean" compared to how much money ramblers bring in to the rural economy, he said.