This succinct, practical and up-to-date book is an introduction to the complex area of public rights of way. It is aimed at practitioners, lawyers and surveyors, who are not necessarily experts in this area of law, but who may have to deal with rights of way in conveyancing transactions, land management or planning matters. The book will also be useful for those landowners, farmers and those working for local authorities.

For this reason, the book does not follow the conventional pattern of dividing the chapters into subject topics, but looks at the law from the angle of the landowner, the purchaser, the public users of the rights and the local authority. There will, of course, be some chapters which will be relevant to all parties.

Sections 20 to 26 of, and Schedule 7 to, the Deregulation Act 2015 will introduce many changes to the recording of public rights of way. The provisions were originally expected to come into force in April 2016. Although the relevant regulations are still awaited, the book covers the prospective legislation.