It's been the most frustrating 12 months on record for walkers and ramblers in the Bradford district.

For months, public footpaths have been strictly out of bounds as foot and mouth restrictions have forced walkers to stick to roads and public parks.

But now, as the last of the 'keep out' signs are pulled down around the district, Bradford people are finally able to get their boots muddy once again.

And if the chance to head out into some of Britain's finest countryside wasn't enough, walkers are being given added incentive to brave the winter chill.

A group of local walkers have teamed up with Bradford-based Yorkshire Water to create a network of 16 new walks visiting some of the most famous sights in the county.

The routes, ranging between four and ten miles in length, all link in to the exisiting Bradford Millennium Way walk - a circular route launched just over a year ago.

From its start-point at Bracken Hall on Shipley Glen, the walk visits some of the district's most famous sights including Haworth, the Bronte Bridge, Ilkley's Cow and Calf Rocks, and Hewenden Viaduct.

Although the Millennium Way has proved a hit with walkers in the district, at 45 miles in length and covering some hilly terrain, it is a tough and demanding trek for even the keenest ramblers.

Now the five walkers who devised the Millennium Way concept back in 1999 are hoping the new additions to the route will encourage more people back out into the countryside.

The launch of the new walks coincides with last week's Bradford Council countryside renaissance conference, designed to rejuvenate the district's rural communities in the wake of foot and mouth.

Jim Thornber, one of the team who also lead walks for Bradford Council's Countryside Service, said the new routes gave people a great opportunity to see the district at its best.

"It was said to us that the full Millennium Way was too long for most people to do all in one go so they requested some circular walks to be developed from it," he explained.

"When we studied the area, we found we could get 16 reasonably circular walks ranging between four and ten miles from it.

"These 16 walks have been developed so that everybody, not just super-fit walkers, can complete them and therefore do the Millennium Way in easy sections.

"Due to the nature of the land in Yorkshire these 16 walks we have developed cover some fascinating terrains and scenery including woodland, moorland, streams, picturesque valleys, and some of Yorkshire Water's reservoirs."

And he said they had been keen to look at wider issues such as access.

"We have tried to make them accessible to people who do not have their own transport and, with that in mind, most of them start and finish at villages or on bus routes," he said.

Mr Thornber also paid tribute to the role of Yorkshire Water's community affairs team who stepped-in with £5,000 worth of sponsorship to pay for the signing of the new routes and the production of a colour guide for walkers.

The group bid for the money from Yorkshire Water's Community Catalyst Fund which is available for projects being undertaken by local groups. Decisions on which groups are awarded the cash are made by the firm's colleague panel made up from employees across Yorkshire Water.

Mr Thornber said: "If Yorkshire Water had not come forward to fund this project then we would have just had to leave the Millennium Way as it was.

"That would have been a shame, because a lot of people who come on walks with the Countryside Service have been really keen to get this finished."

The Bradford-based firm, which is Yorkshire's biggest landowner, said it was delighted to get involved with the project.

Since the Countryside Rights of Way Act passed through Parliament 12 months ago, Yorkshire Water has been applauded for throwing open much of its 72,000 acres of land to walkers.

In contrast, Bradford Council has said it will take 50 years before it completes a definitive map of the district's rights of way - despite a government warning in 1987 that the job should be completed by the year 2000.

Cheryl Wright, Yorkshire Water's community affairs manager, said that the firm was committed to improving public access.

"This project comes at a time when we are encouraging walkers back into the countryside following the foot and mouth crisis," she said. "We see this as a major opportunity for us to improve public access, and we already provide a whole host of recreational activities."

Brian Thorpe, Ramblers' Association footpaths officer for Bradford and Keighley, said he welcomed the new routes around the Millennium Way.

"In view of the new Countryside and Rights of Way Act, it is good to see new routes which give access to the superb open countryside around Bradford. Yorkshire Water have now also begun to open up their land to walkers and it can only be commended for that."

Mr Thorpe said he believed the walks would help to attract people back into the countryside.

"My impressions are that people are returning to the Bradford countryside because it is such an integral part of Bradford. If these new walks encourage even more people out then that is excellent."

The new routes were also welcomed by Telegraph & Argus walks writer Mike Priestley.

He said: "The Millennium Way was an excellent idea. But the creation of this series of circular walks based on it is better still. It should encourage even more Bradford people to get out and explore the glorious countryside that the district has to offer.

"Yorkshire Water's involvement isn't surprising. The company has already done a lot to encourage walkers to make use of the large amount of land it controls in some of the most scenic parts of the county."

And Mr Thornber, who is this week working with the other members of the Millennium Way group to put in place new signposts for the route, agreed it was the ideal time for people to get out walking again.

"We are very keen on getting people to go out into the countryside," he said. "We want to encourage people to walk in Bradford and show them what Bradford has to offer.

"They don't really realise what is out there and a lot of people have done the Millennium Way and said they didn't realise that such places existed in Bradford. Now, we want to make these places even more accessible.

"If it takes you 20 hours or 20 years, the Millennium Way is a fantastic walk for anybody of any age to complete."