The Byways and Bridleways Trust have recorded another victory for cyclists after the Applegarth bridleway in Richmond, Yorkshire was reopened.

Earlier this year the BBT led the case at a public inquiry, where the local authority and landowners were trying to get part of a three mile long bridleway downgraded to a footpath.

The middle section of the route, which links Richmond and Swaledale, had been obstructed to riders by four stone walls with stiles for over a century but the stone walls have now been removed and the stiles replaced with bridle gates.

Two BBT trustees, Elizabeth Kirk and Catriona Cook, were joined last week on a celebratory ride by cyclists Sarah Bridge, Alan Jackson and John Deighton, who had presented evidence to the inquiry that the bridleway was an old road.

Historical documents had helped prove the bridleway was part of an ancient packhorse route dating back seven centuries.