Horse riders furious as cars block key bridleway
By Laura Linham 10th Apr 2026
Horse-riders say they are being treated as an "after-thought" after a key route through the Mendip Hills was blocked by parked cars.
The row centres on Deerleap car park, near Priddy, where a bridleway runs north from Westbury-sub-Mendip into the Mendip Hills National Landscape. Nicole Perold, from Chewton Mendip, raised the issue at Somerset Council's executive committee meeting in Taunton on Tuesday, 1 April.
She said horse-riders across the county often felt overlooked while transport planners focused on cyclists and walkers.
Ms Perold told councillors the Deerleap bridleway was "often completely blocked by parked cars", leaving people on horseback with "no simple and safe way" to carry on their journey north of Wells.
She said the problem was not simply down to drivers, because there was almost nothing on site to make clear a bridleway crossed the car park.
According to Ms Perold, there is only a tiny circular sign on a post some distance back from the site. She said that meant visitors had little reason to realise parking there could block a legal route.
She asked the council whether it would improve signage, consider posts or other physical measures to stop parking on the bridleway, and explain how any restrictions would be enforced.
Councillor Richard Wilkins, Somerset Council's portfolio holder for transport and waste services, apologised to equestrians and said the council would work with the Mendip Hills National Landscape team to tackle the issue.
He said horse-riders were included in the council's definition of active travel as it moved towards adopting its latest local transport plan.
On Deerleap, Cllr Wilkins said the site was managed by the Mendip Hills National Landscape team, which already had signs and posts in stock and planned to install them "very soon".
He said the measures would hopefully stop the bridleway being blocked again.
Cllr Wilkins added that rangers and volunteers were regularly on site and would keep watch on whether the new measures were working.
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Original reporting: Daniel Mumby/LDRS
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