Most urban districts are crisscrossed with footpaths and snickets which are familiar to local people and often well used by them as short cuts, avoiding busy roads with their traffic noise and exhaust fumes. They are an important network for pedestrians.

Unfortunately some of these rights of way are also used by criminals as points of access to adjoining properties and as getaway routes, or as somewhere to lurk and wait for potential victims to mug. That is why the Government has approved new laws enabling local authorities to close those which can be shown to present a persistent crime problem.

Bradford Council's proposal to apply to close some rights of way in Little Horton on grounds of public safety is bound to draw a mixed reaction. From the point of view of the police, the local authority and, reportedly, a fair proportion of local people the closure of a number of rights of way is fully justified to reduce the risk of crime.

Other residents, though, are likely to back the Open Spaces Society's view that these footpaths are of vital importance and closure of them because of crime problems would stigmatise Little Horton.

It is true that rights of way have been hard fought for and should be surrendered only for the strongest possible reasons. Once a right of way is lost, it is gone forever.

Perhaps the best way forward would be for the footpaths to be closed temporarily, for a period to be agreed with the local community, with the impact on crime levels being monitored to guide any final decision as to whether or not to close the routes permanently.