HORTON-in-Ribblesdale residents will find out as early as next spring if the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority has done enough to help ease nuisance and anti-social problems associated with the Three Peaks walks.

Residents have complained increasingly over several years about excessive noise and disturbance caused mainly by organised charity groups in the early hours and late at night as participants use the village as a start and finish point, as reported in recent months in the Craven Herald.

Following meetings between the parish council, the YDNPA and the Three Peaks Walking Group - a spur of the parish council set up to help tackle the problems - the YDNPA has agreed to create a Code of Conduct for walkers to follow.

It sets out suggestions to keep noise to a minimum and respect the area where people live, along with recommendations to dispose of litter sensibly and park sensibly within the village or use public transport where possible.

It suggests the best times to visit and to ensure walkers are well prepared, as well as encouraging people to support the local economy and donate to path maintenance.

This week the Authority brought a report to its quarterly meeting setting out what it had done to address the issues and for members to note the new Code of Conduct aimed at individuals and event organisers.

The Code will be made available to charity groups to put in information packs and on the National Park’s website.

It will also be made available to accommodation outlets and visitor centres.

The Authority will also set up a notification scheme where people can access information online that helps them plan their event and know what is expected of them when they get to the area.

They can also purchase a Three Peaks map showing alternative starting points, such as Ribblehead and Ingleton.

At the meeting on Tuesday, member champion for recreation management Nick Cotton said: “The Three Peaks is an enormous success story. It attracts lots of people, including young people, and is good for charities and the economy with people spending the night in the area before and after the walk.

“The Code of Conduct is quite clear about what we would like people to do and recognise the limit of what they can and can’t do.

“We are not in a position to stop people walking this route.”

Richard Welch, a member of the National Park and district councillor for the Penyghent ward said he hoped the Code of Conduct went far enough to help alleviate the nuisance caused to locals.

“While the noise nuisance may not be a criminal offence, it is this anti-social behaviour and small niggling problems which is not helping the people in Horton,” he said.

“Coaches dropping people off at 5am and people shouting at a time when local people are still in bed is not acceptable.

“Then you get people coming back to the village after the walk and, with the pub in sight, late at night starting singing ‘We are the Champions’ at the top of their voices after a 12-hour walk, and there are times people park anywhere but in a car park.”

Mr Welch said he believed the National Park has a moral responsibility in dealing with the actions of visitors and the impact they had on villages around the Three Peaks route.

“If it wasn’t for the tourists this National Park would not be in business,” he said. “I think there is a moral responsibility.

“We will have to see whether this Code of Conduct helps, so let’s see where we are this time next year.”

When the report to the meeting was first published, Wilf Fenten, from Selside, a countryside champion and former member of the YDNPA, said he was disappointed with the Park’s ‘complacency’ into the problem.

He said: “This is a very poor and inadequate response that will in no way improve the current situation for local people or mitigate the damage done to the route by overuse.

“During my time as councillor on Horton-in-Ribblesdale Parish Council we commissioned in 2015 a Visitor and Traffic Management Plan through fellow campaigner Colin Speakman.

“I know for a fact that he spoke personally to about a quarter of the population of Horton, plus responses from many others including all local businesses. I thought at the time that it was a great response.

“The YDNPA report ignores totally most key recommendations or much of the responses from others. It contains nothing at all new or practical and is a really wasted opportunity; one of many over the last two decades. It all sounds terribly complacent.”

Mr Fenten said the Authority had stated there were around 20 Saturdays a year when there were large, organised charity events tackling the Three Peaks route.

“Twenty Saturdays a year means that every single weekend in spring and summer is spoiled for local people,” he said.

“As to the economic benefits, poor as they are per capita), they are not environmentally or socially sustainable.

“The Authority must either decide to stay out of the socio-economic space, unless it is really required in line with the defined duty which this one is not, or embrace it by developing a proper economic strategy concentrating on and promoting what is environmentally sustainable, in harmony with the landscape, rather than destroying it.”