Ramblers, horse riders and cyclists are to be given further access to huge tracts of countryside.

Yorkshire Water, which owns thousands of acres of land in Airedale, has launched a pilot project to identify land it can open up which has been barred to the public for decades.

It will involve talks with farmers, owners of sports rights and local authorities - including Bradford and Calderdale - in a bid to come to a partnership deal about access.

It could result in the opening up of parts of Haworth Moor and Keighley Moor, in the upper Worth Valley, which have been out of bounds to walkers.

Yorkshire Water owns 72,000 hectares of land, making it the largest landowner in the region.

It is mostly moorland catchment on the eastern flanks of the Pennines, stretching from Skipton in the north to Sheffield in the south and including parts of the Yorkshire Dales National Park and areas of outstanding natural beauty.

Miles Foulger, the company's environment and catchment manager, said the aim is to create a planning blueprint which could be applied to its holdings to ensure the right balance is struck between recreational access and protection of the environment.

"We will identify where we need to provide more access to company land, which areas people want increased access to, how they will get there, where they will park and what additional facilities we will need to provide," he said.

"A lot of catchments are surrounded by farms and land not under our control.

"We are looking at ways of involving our neighbours and taking their views and needs into consideration."

The project, costing £14,000, is being promoted jointly with the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Office of the Countryside Agency.

Regional director Chris Armitage, said: "This is a major step forward and we are very pleased with the positive response it has received from our partners."

Bradford and Calderdale councils are being consulted as highways bosses to enable people to reach the locations.

The project will involve showing the public appropriate routes, advising them on their rights, giving better information about flora and fauna and which areas to avoid so as not to disrupt wildlife.

Margaret Thomas, of the West Riding area of the Ramblers' Association, said it was pleasing to see the commitment to get a balance between conservation and recreation.

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