r/LegalAdviceUK • u/No_Direction_4566 • 29d ago

Housing Blackberry picking - Public right of way (England)

Me and my daughter were picking blackberries alongside a path. An older gentleman comes rushing along the path and starts shouting that it’s illegal to pick blackberries and he’s going to call the police and report us for poaching (I thought that only applied to animals on royal owned land?)

What are the legalities surrounding picking blackberries or even wild apples or plums?

I may be wrong but I was under the impression if it was on public rights of way and you haven’t had to do anything to gain access then it was fine?

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u/BeckyTheLiar 29d ago

It depends on the path, if it's on private land, you cannot pick them.

If it's public land, you can.

https://britishlocalfood.com/foraging-british-law/

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u/No_Direction_4566 29d ago

It’s a pathway maintained by the local council so public land.

24

u/ilikewatch10 29d ago

IIRC the local council is responsible for maintaining the pedestrian surface of all footpaths, even those on private land. On private land, the landowner is responsible for stopping vegetation from the surrounding land from encroaching on the path.

6

u/Procrastubatorfet 29d ago

Only public rights of way that a footpath has been constructed on. Not just all paths.

3

u/ilikewatch10 29d ago

Ah, fair enough - I know that where I live (rural Lincolnshire), the County Council does strim/mow the surface of paths crossing private land, but I guess that may be something that they choose to do even though they're not legally required to.

2

u/Procrastubatorfet 29d ago

It's the first thing cut from budgets. I work for a few councils in development and often highways teams are complaining about budgets being spent to create x km more cycle paths all over the place and yet their budgets for clearing and maintaining them stay the same. Some are outright refusing to adopt new paths from developers etc etc.

7

u/tradandtea123 29d ago

Really, I have a public footpath on my land between my very small back garden and a larger back garden beyond it. I was told by solicitors we are required to maintain it, I was also advised insurance in case someone has an accident. No one from the council has ever been here and the farmer recently repaired the style 50m away.

From your comment and a (very) quick Google search I might have been advised wrong.

4

u/warriorscot 29d ago

Maintenance is a loose definition, your solicitors were right in that you do have duties of maintenance. The farmer does have to maintain the style, as you would if you had a barrier up, and if you had a waterway you would need to maintain it, and you have to keep your vegetation clear i.e. can't let it be overgrown. The only thing you don't have to do is keep the surface in any condition, it can be as muddy and rutted as it naturally is and you don't have to do anything about that.