Defra scraps England deadline to register thousands of miles of rights of way

A deadline for registering historic rights of way is to be scrapped after a warning that the looming cutoff date could result in the loss of thousands of miles of footpaths.

The last government set a deadline of 2031 for all rights of way in England to be added to an official map, after abandoning a previous commitment to scrap the policy.

Once recorded as rights of way and added to the definitive map, paths are protected under the law for people to use.

In an announcement timed to mark the…