NEW Ordnance survey maps showing land where walkers have the right to roam could lure ramblers on to the deadly sands of Morecambe Bay - guides and landowners fear.

The OS is rushing to produce 32 new maps showing the first areas to be opened to walkers on September 19, according to the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 which is gradually coming into effect.

Among the areas to be opened in May 2005 will be large areas of Lancashire and small parts of Cumbria and North Yorkshire.

Access land which ramblers can use without staying on the footpath is to be shaded yellow with an orange border and will be marked even if there are full scale closures or whether it is dangerous to go there.

Areas shaded yellow will include parts of the treacherous sands of Morecambe Bay where 21 Chinese cockle pickers died in February.

Now guides and landowners in the Morecambe Bay area fear that the shading of the sands as access land could mean that walkers may decide to attempt the trip.

Cederic Robinson, The Queen's Guide to the Sands who has been leading walks across Morecambe Bay for many years, denounced the new maps, saying he believed the yellow shading could lead to trouble.

"They should mark the sands out in red because there are a lot of silly people in this world. The sands are only safe to those who know them and follow them," he said.

"It wasn't so many years ago since a young man went out on to an area that he believed was quite safe because it was near the shore but he sank up to his chest in the quicksand."

But Paula Good, spokeswoman for the OS, said that maps had been drawn up responsibly, with a warning that shifting sands may be dangerous.

She said: "We have made it absolutely clear on the maps that there may be certain dangers and we would always expect responsible people to check signs with local authorities."

She added that walkers should always check at an information point or on the Countryside Agency website before starting out on a walk.

Paul Bell, of The Ramblers Association, called the new rights of access across Morecambe Bay something of a "red herring" as walkers' rights would in reality be restricted because much of the sands area was a designated nature reserve.

He added: "I think it is quite clear to members of the public about the danger of the sands."