Ramblers at a new gate on one of the Hastings footpaths

Walkers will no longer have to battle with stiles on some of the footpaths around Hastings, after work by two Ramblers groups.

Sussex Ramblers and Battle Ramblers joined the county’s rights of way team and a local landowner to replace the stiles with more user-friendly gates.

The work has taken place on the 1066 Walk and the 1066 Hastings Link Path at Westfield.

A 15km (9½-mile) stretch of the popular long-distance 1066 and 1066 Hastings Link Paths is now completely stile-free.

In addition, work has seen the completion of a network of locally used stile-free footpath links between Three Oaks and Westfield.

A spokesperson for the local groups said: “Stiles can be a problem for some walkers, and with a stile frequently encountered at every boundary, even a short walk can feel more like the ‘100m hurdles’.

“By replacing the stiles with gates these paths also become dog-walker friendly.”

The gates were bought with donations from both Ramblers groups, and installed by East Sussex County Council’s countryside and rights of way team.