A POPULAR footpath is to remain closed to the public after the National Trust failed to negotiate an agreement with the tenant farmer.
A section of the walk, which runs along the bank of the River Mole from the Watermill pub at Pixham to the Burford Bridge, has been closed off by farmer Donald Alexander.
Box Hill ranger Andrew Wright said the Trust had done "all it could" to keep it open following complaints from dog walkers and environmentalists, but had now admitted defeat.
Mr Wright told the Advertiser: "I can assure you that we tried our very best to get it open, by offering to pay for fencing and other bits, but Mr Alexander was not keen.
"We thought we had put together a set of terms and conditions that would be agreeable but he refused and he is completely within his rights to do that.
"The National Trust is all about getting people outdoors and closer to nature and so we are as disappointed as anybody else that those experiences can't now be shared."
Mr Wright said although the land does belong to the National Trust, an agreement was struck for Thames Water to lease the land for 1,000 years for sewage works.
As Thames Water no longer requires the site for sewage purposes, it leased the land to Mr Alexander last year for use as agricultural land.
Dog walker Ralph Johnson told the Advertiser he had used the path for a number years and believed "no one individual's decision should ever have such an impact on so many residents".
"The public are the losers here because it is a lovely path to walk along and no one should be denied access to see the River Mole up close," he said.
"It looks like the farmer has taken the stance of 'get off my land'. Now there are padlocks on the kissing gates and signs up saying 'no public entry' and I do not think it is right.
"I would plead to the farmer to reconsider because people care passionately about it."
Mr Alexander was contacted by the Advertiser but declined to comment.
