We’re the only family on our road that aren’t allowed access to a safe route

[Realitea]

I am so upset right now. We live in a rural lane and the only way to get to the bus stop with my Dd is through another lane which the council have confirmed is a public footpath

Yet our neighbours say they own it and we aren’t allowed access. When I asked what our alternative route was they said a bridlepath. The bridlepath is really muddy and slippery and dark. Also if a horse comes along we have literally nowhere to stand and it’s quite dangerous.

Wtf do I do? I’ve only just moved here! The neighbours are in very close proximity so a fall out would be horrendous.

OP, so sorry you have found the new neighbourhood so tough. Don't bother apologising; they were well out of order to yell at your ds, and letting you use the path would be the kind and neighbourly thing to do. They clearly don't want to be kind.

You will find people you like! It just takes time.

Not that it's relevant here, but as a landowner you can lodge some sort of claim thing on your land that will prevent anyone from claiming a right of way. Alternatively, you can but closed signs up for a day or two, a couple of times each year to prove that the land is under your control.

With the bridle path that would benefit you to be 'cutback', it might be worth approaching the landowner to ask for permission to do this. Do not do it without permission though, as there is shitloads of rules about what you can and can't do on your own land, when you can do it etc etc. and doing things 'illegally' could cost the landowner £1000's.

If i was you i'd try to give them all another chance - you have found that you're in the wrong this time, and that is bound to have rattled their cages. An apology would allow you to assess if they maybe useful for a spare house key, pint of milk etc, or whether they are indeed just a bunch of wankers. Hopefully it's the former!

but as a landowner you can lodge some sort of claim thing on your land that will prevent anyone from claiming a right of way. Alternatively, you can but closed signs up for a day or two, a couple of times each year to prove that the land is under your control.

You are referring to a permitted right of way, where a LL allows people to use a path, but retain the right to close it.

A footpath on the Definitive Map is a permanent right of way, and the public are allowed to use it 24 x 7. They can be closed, or diverted, temporarily after consultation, or permanently with permission from the Minister of State. This applies to England and Wales.

Carry on using it. If it’s on a map, it’s a footpath. Lots of people buy properties that have public footpaths running through them, they just have to accept people using them. Can your son get some headphones so he can’t hear them shouting?

Some people are just really entitled. I got shouted at for driving my car on the publicly owned single track road I lived on (I rented too).

OP - be the bigger person and apologise, explaining what you had been told, etc. Don't just scuttle off and not say anything. And don't put a note through.

Personally, I would go round there and apologise nicely about the misunderstanding and explain that I will of course not use their path again.

I would then finish by telling them firmly but in a concilliatory tone, that their treatment of my DS upset him as he is a child and was just doing what I had told him he could do. That they should have spoken to me and not shouted at him and made him feel bullied. That if I ever hear of them treating him like that again that my tone will not be so polite.

I would emphasise that I wish to be good neighbours and they won't have cause to complain about us using the path again but if they ever behave in that way again I will be reporting them to the police for threatening behaviour.

Be neighbourly but don't be walk over ad people like that will just continue to bully you

I think bumblingbovines post is spot on. Sorry for the misunderstanding and you won't use their path again. However if they think raising a voice to an 8 year old child is acceptable they need to think again.

Carry on using it. If it’s on a map, it’s a footpath

This statement is just not factual, either for the OP's case or in general. There are many tracks on maps which are privately owned where there is no public right of way.

You might have missed it but in an update post OP says they have had a meeting with council PROW office and discovered that actually, the landowner is right and there is no PROW on that particular track.

I think unfortunately it is your “fault” that you have got off on the wrong foot🐈- not intentionally! - and if you don’t apologise they will continue to be annoyed and find fault with you. You need to apologise and explain, so they don’t think you are a rude CF.