Market Weighton is the latest town to extend a welcome to walkers.

The East Yorkshire market town has gained Walkers Are Welcome status, a mark of its reputation as a place to enjoy the outdoors.

A Walkers Are Welcome sign

The town is the fifth to gain the accolade. Church Stretton in Shropshire will also receive the mark in June this year.

Hebden Bridge in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, was the first town to satisfy the Walkers Are Welcome criteria. Others boasting the status are: Moffat in Dumfries and Galloway; Prestatyn and Meliden, north Wales, and Mytholmroyd, just down the valley from Hebden Bridge.

Eleven other communities across England and Wales are actively seeking the status.

Towns must demonstrate public support for the idea; get their council’s approval; maintain rights of way; market themselves as walker-friendly; encourage the use of public transport, and show a commitment to maintaining their status.

Councillor Martha Hanson of Market Weighton Town Council was instrumental in getting accreditation, collecting more than 350 signatures in support.

The official launch will be next Thursday, 20 March, at the Half Moon on the town’s High Street.