The downs near Breaky Bottom. Photo: Pete Warren

Campaigners will take to the South Downs to protest at being kept off access land in the new national park.

Open access land at Breaky Bottom between Brighton and Lewes has been declared off-limits by Natural England because of a disused quarry on the site.

But the Action for Access group says the land, shown as a Countryside and Rights of Way Act right-to-roam area on maps, should be open to the public and the disused pit fenced off.

Open Spaces Society general secretary Kate Ashbrook will join walkers tomorrow, Saturday, in a bid to reverse the decision to exclude the public, which was at the request of the landowner Peter Hall, whose vineyards grace the chalk downlands in the area.

Ms Ashbrook said: “It is outrageous that we are banned from this lovely site. The access land on the downs is pitifully sparse in any case, and some of the land which was mapped is inaccessible. Breaky Bottom is the entry point to a delightful but very under-used part of the downs, and is only a short distance from the South Downs Way.

“The views are wonderful; indeed the landowner exalts the beauty of the area as a marketing device for his wine.

“Mr Hall has won a restriction order to keep us out, on the limp excuse that walkers are at risk from the disused chalk quarry. He has recently erected new fencing right round the area and subdivided it into paddocks. All he needed to do was to put about 70m of fencing around the quarry to comply with the requirements for making access land safe for the public.

“Natural England should have refused the restriction order, and Lewes District Council, the enforcing authority for the quarry, should, under the Mines and Quarries Act 1954, order Mr Hall to erect a safety barrier around the steepest part of the pit. That would be in accordance with Natural England’s statutory guidance for restrictions on access land. But it appears that the guidance is now being ignored, to the detriment of the public.”

Ms Ashbrook said the Countryside Agency, Natural England’s predecessor, refused to make any restriction, but the landowner appealed and won the right to close the land. The restriction has come up for review and this time Natural England has renewed the restriction with only a small modification.

She continued: “So Saturday’s protest is to put pressure on Natural England, Lewes District Council and the landowner to make safe the chalk pit and open up the land for public access and enjoyment.”

The group will gather at Southease station, 4km (2½miles) south of Lewes at 10.35am for a walk to the exclusion zone.