‘Are all unsealed unclassified roads open to the public with motors?’  That question has been asked and argued over for decades. The answer seems to be that the great majority are, but a few can be shown to be bridleways or (more rarely) footpaths.

We have just published a new LARA Paper which is a collection of letters from government departments, 1983 onwards, stating the government’s view at the time of each letter.

The Paper is available from the LARA – Papers and Reports page in the Reference Documents section of this website.

This issue is also discussed at length in the LARA report, Unsealed Unclassified Roads. Their History, Status, and the Effect of the Natural Environment & Rural Communities Act 2006, due to be updated and re-published very shortly.