COUNTRYSIDE lovers will have the chance to explore a huge new area of the Yorkshire Dales National Park for the first time this weekend when open access legislation for the region comes into force.

Nearly 400 square miles of access land will be opened up under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 (CRoW) in the Upper North West and North East England (area 4) tomorrow (Saturday).

It is to be launched by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA) in partnership with the Countryside Agency, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and English Nature at Ribblehead.

Guests will include mountaineer Doug Scott, who was one of the first Britons to climb Everest and Rural Affairs landscape and biodiversity minister Jim Knight.

They will be invited to experience the new rights first-hand by taking part in a series of guided walks around the Ribblehead area, which includes the Ingleborough National Nature Reserve, famous for its special limestone geology and associated flora.

Jon Avison, the national park's head of park management, said: "Open access gives people a chance to see areas of the Yorkshire Dales National Park that were inaccessible before.

"It will help us achieve one of our main purposes - to give people the opportunity to enjoy the special qualities of the national park."

A group of specially trained volunteers will be on hand from tomorrow to help people explore the access to land which was granted by the Act.

The Upper North West and North East region is the second area of access to be opened in Craven

In September last year the Lower North West region (area 2) was opened and covered areas of Craven (excluding the Yorkshire Dales National Park), Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees and Sheffield.