Ramblers are joining forces to campaign against councils which fail to keep footpaths open to the public.

The Ramblers' Association estimates that a quarter of the UK's 130,000 miles of paths are either deliberately blocked or otherwise obstructed.

It says most footpaths in England and Wales are in a "deplorable state".

The group is launching the Way Ahead campaign on Saturday to mark the start of its Footpaths Week.

The association estimates walkers come across an obstruction once every two kilometres, and believes there are up to 260,000 "hazards" on paths, such as badly maintained bridges and "rickety" styles.

Lobby

By putting pressure on all highway authorities to improve their rights of way networks, the group will also use the week to raise the profile of footpath issues and stress their value to the whole community.

Members will be lobbying for improvements to paths in their areas, and events highlighting path issues will be held across England and Wales.

Ramblers are also encouraged to contact their local councillors and stress how important an open and useable path network is to them.

Up to �70m is thought to be needed to improve England's paths alone.

Freedom

More than 1,000 volunteers work throughout the year to clear paths and carry out surveys of local rights of way networks.

Responsibility for the paths in England and Wales lies with the relevant highway authority - county council, unitary authority, metropolitan borough, London borough or national park authority.

It is governed in law by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act of 2000.

In Scotland, in keeping with the tradition of freedom of access to all land, most paths are open to the public without being official "rights of way".

Scottish local authorities are not under a duty to produce definitive maps of footpaths.