Vixen Tor. Photo: djdavegold

One of Dartmoor’s most contentious sites could soon be opened to walkers after councillors voted to create two new footpaths.

Vixen Tor, the subject of protracted legal wrangling between the landowner Mary Alford and campaigning bodies, has been closed to walkers and climbers since 2003 when Mrs Alford barred visitors. She said she feared her family would be held responsible for any accidents on the site.

Devon County Council today voted two routes to the granite outcrop should become public rights of way. Two other routes proposed for public footpath status were rejected.

The Ramblers, the British Mountaineering Council, the Open Spaces Society and the Vixen Tor Action Group all supported the opening up of the tor to the public. The British Horse Society and the Devon Green Lanes Group also supported the bid for footpath status.

An earlier application to have Vixen Tor declared open access land under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act was rejected.

Councillors accepted that two paths to the tor had been used by the public without the landowner’s permission or hindrance for 20 years, thereby qualifying as rights of way.

Mrs Alford now has the right of appeal.

The footpaths connect with common land, to which walkers have right of access.

The Alfords bought Vixen Tor from the Windeatt Estate which, they say, owned the site for about 200 years. They said there was mention only of a permissive footpath.

However, many local residents submitted evidence that they had used paths to the tor without the landowners’ permission for years, including one who had first used the tor in 1955 during his honeymoon and on several occasions since moving to the area.

John Skinner, Devon area access officer for the Ramblers said: “I am delighted by this decision and hope that the public will be able to enjoy visits to Vixen Tor before too long.”

The decision was welcomed by the BMC, although the issue of climbing on the outcrops is still to be resolved. Guy Keating, the BMC’s access and conservation officer, said: “This is a major step in the right direction for all the climbers, walkers and local residents who previously enjoyed visiting ‘the sphinx of Dartmoor’.

“The BMC access team has been campaigning hard for a restoration of access since a public inquiry in 2003 decided the site did not qualify for an Open Access designation. This latest result is very positive indeed and we hope the Tor will soon be accessible once more.”

The Alford family has owned Vixen Tor since 2002. When they took over the site, they removed a stile and put up barbed wire on the walls surrounding the site, putting up ‘no access’ signs.

In April last year, Ramblers’ chairman Kate Ashbrook addressed a gathering of 200 people at the site, to protest at being excluded. She said at the time: “It just shows how much people want the freedom on Vixen Tor.”