People should have legal right to enjoy English countryside and nature, say MPs

Swimming and wild camping should be a right for all people to enjoy in the English countryside, a group of MPs has said.

- Helena Horton

They are calling for access to nature to be increased, with people given legal rights to enjoy the countryside, in a report from the all-party parliamentary group for outdoor recreation and access to nature.

The group is led by the Labour MPs Andy MacNae, Phil Brickell and Polly Billington and has been set up to explore ways to improve people's connections with nature and their enjoyment of England's rivers, woodlands and fields.

Their report, which took in the views of more than 750 organisations and individuals, concluded that there was not enough access to nature in England. There is a right enshrined in law to roam over just 8% of England, which includes mountains, moorland, the coastal path and common land.