WALKERS are being encouraged to ditch the car with the launch of a series of special routes.

Northallerton ramblers and North Yorkshire County Council have teamed up to create the local walks which can all be done without the need for a car.

Each walk is five to six miles long on level, easy paths that have been improved by the county council.

The routes were researched and put together by Peter Fowler and George Bateman of Northallerton Ramblers after they realised the town, unlike many others in the county, did not have a set of walks which could be done without the need for a car.

There are three circular walks, one along Dibdale with views of Northallerton and the Vale of Mowbray; another from Northallerton takes in the village of Ainderby Steeple and a third explores Brompton, a once important centre for linen making.

There are also two straight walks, from Thornton Le Moor to Northallerton and from Thirsk to Thornton Le Moor which can be done using bus services. For more ambitious walkers the two can be combined into a single ten mile trek

Mr Fowler said: β€œIt is really pleasing that residents of Northallerton and surrounding areas can now just simply walk from their front door or take a short bus journey to the start of one of these great routes.”

The walks are available from Northallerton Library or can be downloaded from the websites of North Yorkshire County Council northyorks.gov.uk/paths or Northallerton Ramblers northallertonramblers.org.uk