The Garburn Pass. Photo: Adie Jackson CC-BY-SA-2.0

Motor traffic will be banned from a Lake District route after a Government inspector settled an argument going back almost 300 years.

The Garburn Pass between Kentmere and Troutbeck has been the subject of legal debate since 1717 but will now only be legally open to unmotorised travellers.

A Government inspector ruled that the pass, which reaches a height of 447m (ft) on the popular Kentmere Horseshoe walking route, should be classed as a restricted byway – open to all traffic except motorised vehicles.

Off-roaders and motorcyclists caught using the route will face fines.

Lake District national park countryside access adviser Nick Thorne said Garburn had always been difficult to maintain because of its gradient, turns and rainfall.

“As long ago as 1719 the High Constable of Kendal ordered that the route be put in to repair because part of it was not passable for any man or horse to travel without danger of being bogged in the moss or lamed amongst the stones.”

Ironically, the track is now in a better condition than for centuries after £55,000-worth of Government funding was received following the 2009 floods to enable repairs to the byway, which suffered in the torrents that brought widespread destruction to Cumbria.

“The storms of November 2009 badly damaged both sides of the pass, especially the western side where the track effectively became a river, and most of the surface ended up on the main road.

“We were able to obtain significant funding under the Paths for the Public Project, funded by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Rural Development Programme for England, and Cumbria County Council.

“And we have now completely rebuilt the worst affected areas in three stages with the work being carried out by our own staff, the National Trust, and a local contractor,” Mr Thorne added.

The case involved years of debate, arguments and counter arguments, with hundreds of pages of documents ranging from maps of 1822, guidebooks of the 1880s, and photographs of motorbikes using the pass in the 1920s.