Fears for safety of farmers on outskirts of Hartlepool over 2,000% rise in people exercising around 'rural fringe' each day

The appeal has been issued by Hartlepool Borough Council and the local farming community following a big increase in the number of people using the countryside footpaths.

One farmer even says he does not feel able to safely go into the farmyard with his young family.

Hartlepool council chiefs say there has been a near 2,000% rise in the number of people walking around one farm on the outskirts of the town, from up to 15 people a day to up to 290.

While people are entitled to use public rights of way to exercise - if their exercise starts and finishes at home - they are being asked to respect the health and wellbeing of others.

The council which has supplied signs to farms asking walkers not to stray from footpaths or to linger in one area for too long and to observe rules on social distancing, is now asking them to consider alternative exercise options to relieve the pressure on “urban fringe” areas.

Chris Scaife, the Council’s Countryside Access Officer, said: “Farmers, isolated residents and those with health issues living right next to public footpaths on the outskirts of town have voiced serious concerns about the numbers of people currently using these paths.

“As many as 230 to 290 people a day have been reported as walking through one location – a farm close to West Park – when in normal times we would expect no more than 10 to 15 people.”

It is feared that some people are walking together in groups, even though they are not from the same household.

Mr Scaife added: “It is important to remember that while farms are places of work, they are homes too. Also, when walking close to isolated rural properties people should be aware that there may be people living there with underlying health conditions that make them particularly vulnerable.”

The latest figures released by Public Health England on Wednesday, April 15, show there are 75 confirmed cases across the town.

Across the North East, there are 4,420 cases, a rise of 215. Nationally, there have been 98,476 confirmed cases in the UK, a daily rise of 4,605, and 12,868 deaths, an increase of 761.

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