Controversial plans to open up the countryside to the public have been criticised by ramblers and landowners in Oxfordshire.

Land previously off-limits to the public will be open to walkers within two years under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act.

Draft maps published this week show mountain, moor, heath, downland and registered common land across England earmarked for inclusion in the Right to Roam legislation.

Uncultivated common land and downland across Oxfordshire is included, with areas in the south of the county the most heavily affected.

But access will continue to be denied to large areas of the county -- including much of the Oxfordshire Cotswolds, and Swyncombe Down, between Wallingford and Watlington.

Ramblers attacked the draft map as "a bad joke", saying it left out some of the most important sites in the county.

Landowners and farmers are concerned that unique conservation and special interest sites could be ruined permanently if the scheme is not properly managed.

The Oxfordshire Ramblers' Association complained that most of the land marked on the maps is already open to the public as common land.

Chairman Chris Hall said: "The map is a bad joke. It's appalling what has been left off.

"The mapping process has been designed to produce the minimum result.

"An awful lot of land that has been put on the map is common land and is open to the public in most cases anyway. The areas which will be opened for the first time are few and far between."

Country Landowners' Association member Harry St John, who also belongs to the Oxfordshire Countryside Access Forum, said: "The problem with public access is that a minority of the public do not respect nature and may ruin conservation areas and potential sites of scientific interest."

John Archer, National Farmer's Union regional technical advisor, said: "The farmers are worried about how it will be policed. If the public do not abide by the code of practice there are going to be problems. They are worried about people interfering with livestock, leaving gates open, lighting fires on the land and damaging fences."

The public can view the maps at Oxfordshire County Council and Oxford City Council offices, and at the Central Library, Oxford, and Banbury and Witney libraries until the end of September, and comment at a series of roadshows.

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