THE “right to roam” is to be extended from mountain, moor, heath and down to include beaches and coastal areas within four years.

The move is to be an important element of Labour’s next general election manifesto and it is hoped that most of the country’s 7,720 miles of coastline would be opened up to walkers within the lifetime of the next Parliament.

In Scotland the right exists in the new Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, which is to come into force in the new year, and a similar pledge has been adopted for inclusion in the Labour Party’s general election manifesto for Wales.

Ministers are now discussing the plan for England and are keen to give people more opportunities for healthy exercise and taking the sea air.

Only last month the right to roam came into force in the North West, including the Duke of Westminster’s land in the Forest of Bowland, Lancashire, and in the South East after 120 years of campaigning by ramblers. The rest of the country will be open for walking by the end of next year.

The right to roam has become so popular that ministers think the extension to the country’s beaches and coastline, including dunes, flats and cliffs, will win support among voters at the election.

In a statement last night the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs confirmed that Alun Michael, the Rural Affairs Minister and a keen rambler, was eager to do everything he could to improve access to the coastline.

A Defra spokeswoman said: “Recently our priority has been to deliver on open access arising out of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act — a complex and time-consuming operation because of the need to balance the interests of farmers with creating the best possible range of opportunities for walkers. But improving coastal access and promoting coastal walks is high on the minister’s forward agenda.”

Consultation is expected to start shortly to find out landowners’ views. The Crown Estate owns 55 per cent of the British coastline. The next biggest landowner is the National Trust. Many farmers own coastal pastures and some fishing industry operations take place on private beaches. English Nature has a number of important conservation sites on the coastline and many local authorities have designated nudist beaches around the country.

The Defra spokeswoman said that it would be premature to speculate on which beaches would be included in the new right to roam. She said that there would be a period of research and consultation with owners before open land in coastal areas was agreed.

A change to the law could be achieved quickly as under Section 3 of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, powers exist for the secretary of state to amend the definition of country to include coastal land. Under the Act, coastal land is defined as foreshore and land adjacent to foreshore including cliff, bank, barrier, dune, beach or flat.

The Countryside Agency, the Countryside Council for Wales, the Forestry Commission and the Ramblers’ Association support the plan to extend the right to roam to the coastline. However, there are some concerns and reservations from landowners.

A spokesman for the Crown Estate said last night that in principle it would support more access. However, he cautioned: “There are times and places when occasionally it might not be appropriate, for example if shellfish are being harvested or if it is nesting season in a conservation area. But we will be very happy to contribute to any consultation.”

A National Trust spokesman said that the plan “opened up more questions than answers”.

He raised concerns about access to coastal defences, fragile ecological areas such as sand dunes, conservation of rare animal and plant species, agricultural land next to the sea and marshland. He said: “As part of nature conservation, many areas are now introducing traditional grazing and there are ponies and cattle on coastal pastures. Walkers would really need to be aware of this and how to behave.”

There was no objection from British Naturism, the 17,000- member organisation which campaigns for nudist beaches.

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