HORSERIDERS in Epping Forest are outraged at the damage caused to woodland paths by the City of London Corporation's use of tractors.

In the latest incident, a tractor operated by the Corporation created 18 inch ruts in the path at Wintry Wood, off Thornwood High Road, near Epping.

Fiona Daniels, 46, of Weald Hall Lane, Thornwood, who often rides her horse in the forest, noticed the tracks when she went out for walk.

She said: “If you're going to do that sort of terrible damage you need to put it back. I don't expect they'll do anything. I've got a total lack of respect for their service. It's a joke. It's the only place you can ride through and it's ruined. My horse won't go through it.

“If a motocross rider or a cyclist did this much damage they'd be up in court., but they've just gone right through and driven off.”

Chairman of the Epping Forest Riders Association Adrian Liddle said he had received many complaints about the Corporation's use of tractors.

He said: “We've spoken to them about this issue for a long time but this year it's got completely ridiculous.

“They've been doing it all over the place. They go in with these huge great tractors and you get huge great bug ruts.

“Walkers won't be able to use the track if there's 18 inch ruts and riders won't be able to use it. I've been getting a lot of complaints about this. I just don't know what they're doing.

“We keep banging our heads on a wall about this. We are very unhappy at what they're doing. It's not necessary to make that much mess.”

A spokeswoman for the Corporation said: "The tyre tracks were left because of damage to several trees which needed to be treated urgently. The only access to the trees was in through the woodland. “Unfortunately the tractor caused some damage but this will be rectified as soon as the ground conditions allow. As with other emergency incidents that the City has to attend, we try our best to avoid damage as much as possible.”