Sir, Your readers may know that the countryside minister Alun Michael has issued a consultation paper about the use of motor vehicles on rights of way in the countryside.

Those of us involved in organised and responsible motor sport and recreation are very concerned that Mr Michael has been seriously misled by interest groups that wish to see the removal of vehicles from the countryside altogether apart from their own, of course.

There is undoubtedly a problem with joyriding' drivers and motorcycle riders taking vehicles to places where they have no right to be - footpaths, open country, parks, and the like, but these are the exception and not the rule.

As urban pressures encroach on the countryside, and as sensitivity of our countryside increases, there is a growing need for more sophisticated methods of recreation management. The national forum for recreational motoring, the Land Access and Recreation Association, has been seeking to counter these bad examples by working in partnership with land managers for 18 years now.

We have over 100 years of tradition of motor sport and recreation in this country, and this is now under threat. Mr Michael's proposals are based on very selective and localised reports, and on opportunism by some organisations, and do not in any way reconcile the problems that arise with the vastly greater number of trips and events that pass off without any damage or conflict every week.

It is important to remember that ramblers have enjoyment of some 120,000 miles of footpath and bridleway in England and Wales where they can go without ever meeting a member of the public with a vehicle. There are just 5,000 miles of byways' open to vehicles, and those we happily share with walkers, riders and cyclists. And ramblers are soon to get many thousands of square miles of right to roam' as well; they are not exactly short of access opportunities, so why do they want ours too?

Neither should the resentment of some landowners to the right to roam' legislation be taken out on recreational vehicle users.

Motorcyclists do take their responsibilities to our countryside very seriously. They try to work with land managers, but some organisations rebuff the work as if co-operation to remove problems where they arise would remove their ability to demand that we be banned, full stop. That is simply not good enough in 2004.

Motorcyclists want to work with Mr Michael to solve the problems that do exist and create a positive and co-operative means of managing public access to Britain's wonderful countryside. To achieve that, the minister must base his proposed changes to the law on fact, rather than disinformation from organisations and individuals who refuse to acknowledge any activities that they do not themselves understand.

Anyone who would like to learn more about motor sport and recreation can visit the LARA web site at www.laragb.org.

Peter Steen Windermere