A FOOTPATH in Old Hall will not be recognised as a public right of way following a town hall inquiry.

An order made in September 2008 to officially record the Old Camp Road path was thrown out as a result of last month’s investigation.

Residents were invited to tell the panel about their experiences of using the walkway, which leads from Shackleton Close to Gulliver’s theme park.

But evidence supplied by Gulliver’s, which owns the path, to Warrington Borough Council argued that no right of way existed.

Clr Judith Wheeler said: “I’m very disappointed but the decision was fair and democratic as anyone who had attended the traffic committees and the public inquiry would have seen.

“It’s a shame that more users didn’t come forward to express their concerns and give evidence.

“Hopefully we will be able to reach an agreement with Gulliver’s about an alternative route.”

The decision was reached after environmental inspector Sue Arnott conducted a site visit of the route to investigate whether a right of way had been established.

One of the requirements was to prove that the path, which was built in 1988, had been used by members of the public for at least 20 years.

Julie Dalton, managing director of Gulliver’s, claimed that when she first visited the site in 1984 there was a locked gate across the original route, which was built in the 1950s.

Ms Arnott found no evidence to suggest that former path owners Warrington development committee, which sold the land to Gulliver’s theme park in 1990, had ever intended to provide public access along Old Camp Road but could see why members of the public might have thought it was.

She said: “The construction of an entrance gateway and the provision of a permanent footway for most of the route may have reasonably been interpreted by the public as providing access.”

Ms Arnott ruled that the path was in fact built as part of the access to Gulliver’s, with the park making attempts over the years to stop people using it.

She added: “Since none of the actions attributed to Gulliver’s have encouraged use by the public on foot, I find that dedication of the path as a public right of way cannot be implied.”