A right of way is a path that anyone has the legal right to use on foot, and sometimes using other modes of transport.

• Public footpaths are open only to walkers

• Public bridleways are open to walkers, horse-riders and pedal cyclists

• Restricted byways are open to walkers, horse-riders, and drivers/riders of non-motorised vehicles (such as horse-drawn carriages and pedal cycles)

• Byways Open to All Traffic (BOATs) are open to all classes of traffic including motor vehicles, though they may not be maintained to the same standard as ordinary roads

Legally, a public right of way is part of the Queen's highway and subject to the same protection in law as all other highways, including trunk roads.

Your legal right is to “pass and re-pass along the way”. You may stop to rest or admire the view, or to consume refreshments, providing you stay on the path and do not cause an obstruction. You can also take with you a “natural accompaniment” which includes a pram, or pushchair.

You can also legally take a manual or powered wheelchair (mobility scooter) provided you follow the regulations for taking these vehicles on ordinary roads. However there is no guarantee that the surface of the path will be suitable for pushchairs and wheelchairs.

You can take a dog with you, but you must ensure it is under close control. Note that there is no requirement for stiles to be suitable for use by dogs.

The safest evidence is the official ‘definitive map’ of public rights of way. These maps are available for public inspection at the offices of local surveying authorities. Some are also available in libraries and online. In addition, public rights of way information derived from them is shown by Ordnance Survey on its Explorer and Land ranger maps.

Some rights of way are not yet shown on definitive maps. These can quite properly be used, and an application may be made to surveying authorities for them to be added to the map. Inner London borough councils are not required to produce definitive maps, though this does not mean there are no rights of way in inner London.

No. There are many paths that the public is able to use but that are not legally rights of way and do not enjoy the same protection.

Paths crossing public parks and open spaces, commons and other sites to which the public has access may not necessarily be rights of way, though some of them are.

Other routes, known as permissive paths, are open to the public because the owner has given permission for them to be used: often there is a notice on the path making clear the owner has no intention of dedicating the path as a right of way, and reserving the right to withdraw the permission. These paths are sometimes closed for one day a year, with a view to preventing claims that they are rights of way.

Towpaths, paths across land owned by organisations such as the Forestry Commission and National Trust who have a policy of providing access, and off-road multi-user routes such as those created as part of the Sustrans National Cycle Network, are available for public use but may not be rights of way.

In legal theory most paths become rights of way because the owner “dedicates” them to public use. In fact very few paths have been formally dedicated, but the law assumes that if the public uses a path without interference for some period of time – set by statute at 20 years - then the owner had intended to dedicate it as a right of way.

The Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 provides a right of access to mapped areas of mountain, moor, heath, down and registered common land be it on tracks and paths or off them. A public path that has been unused for 20 years does not cease to be public (except possibly in Scotland). The legal maxim is “once a highway, always a highway”.

Paths can also be created by agreement between local authorities and owners or by compulsory order, subject in the case of objection, to confirmation by the Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, or the Welsh Government.

The surface of the path is for most purposes considered to belong to the highway authority. What this means is that the authority owns the surface of the way and so much of the soil below and the air above as is necessary for the control, protection and maintenance of the highway. The rest normally belongs to the owner of the surrounding land.

The council that has principal responsibility for rights of way in a particular area, known as the highway authority, is either the county council or the unitary authority.

These councils are also surveying authorities, which have the duty to prepare and maintain the definitive map.

Highway authorities may sometimes assign some of their responsibilities to other authorities. District councils may, by agreement, take over path maintenance and other duties from county councils. Parish and community councils also have the power to maintain paths. In National parks, the national park authority sometimes takes over some or all of the responsibilities for rights of way.

Highway authorities have a general duty “to assert and protect the rights of the public to the use and enjoyment” of paths in their area. They are legally responsible for maintaining the surface of the path, including bridges, and keeping it free of overgrowth. They have the power to require owners to cut back overhanging growth from the side of a path.

The path should be whatever width was dedicated for public use. This width may have arisen through usage, or by formal agreement, or by order, for example if the path has been diverted. The width may be recorded in the statement accompanying the definitive map but in many cases the proper width will be a matter of past practice on that particular path. Note the width of the right of way itself may be greater, or sometimes less, than the width of any track or hard-surfaced strip along the route.

Horse riders have a right to use bridleways, restricted byways and byways open to all traffic. They have no right to use footpaths, and if they do they are committing a trespass against the owner of the land, unless the use is by permission. If use of a footpath by riders becomes a nuisance the local authority can ban them with a traffic regulation order. This makes such use a criminal offence rather than an act of trespass.

Pedal cyclists have a right to use bridleways, restricted byways and byways open to all traffic, but on bridleways they must give way to walkers and riders. Like horse riders, they have no right to use footpaths and if they do so they are committing a trespass against the owner of the land, unless use is by permission. As with horse-riding, use of any right of way by cyclists can be controlled by traffic regulation orders and bye laws imposed by local authorities. Infringement of bye laws or traffic regulation orders is a criminal offence. Under the Highways Act 1835 it is an offence to ride a bicycle on the pavement at the side of a road, and under the Fixed Penalty Offences Order 1999 a person who rides on a pavement can be fined on the spot by a police officer.

Anyone who drives a motor vehicle on a footpath, bridleway or restricted byway without permission is committing an offence. This does not apply if the driver stays within 15 yards of the road, only goes on the path to park and does not obstruct the right of passage. The owner of the land, however, can still order vehicles off even within 15 yards from the road. Races or speed trials on paths are forbidden. Permission for other types of trials on paths may be sought from the local authority, if the landowner consents.

Highway authorities have a duty to put up signposts at all junctions of footpaths, bridleways and byways with metaled roads. The signs must show whether the path is a footpath, bridleway, restricted byway or byway open to all traffic (BOAT) and may also show other information such as destination and distance.

Highway authorities also have a duty to way-mark paths along the route so far as they consider it appropriate.

Waymarking is a means of indicating the line or direction of a path away from metalled roads at points where it may be difficult to follow. In Britain it is normally done with arrow markings on gates, stiles and posts. Natural England and the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW) recommend a standard system of colour-coded arrows - yellow for footpaths, blue for bridleways, purple for restricted byways, and red for byways open to all traffic.

Yes, on the definitive maps. Sometimes you will also see these numbers used on signs and Way marks. Different local authorities use different systems of numbering, and paths are often numbered on a parish or community basis, so path numbers are not very useful as an aid to navigation, only as a means of referring to an individual path for legal purposes.