SOME Lake District paths could be facing a rough future as the cash-challenged national park authority admitted this week that it could no longer afford their upkeep, reports Jennie Dennett.

The Lake District National Park Authority warned that the maintenance of miles of rights of way could be under "serious threat" without a £100,000 cash injection from Cumbria County Council.

The plea comes as the authority attempts to get out of a financial pothole which is likely to reach £850,000 by 2007. That includes a £100,000 shortfall incurred in the wake of the 10mph Windermere speed limit from falling boat registration fees and enforcement costs.

LDNPA says it can no longer cover the full £1 millon it spends on rights of way work, much of which it has voluntarily carried out since 1981 on behalf of CCC - the highways authority which has a legal duty to maintain paths.

If it does not get the cash by April, the LDNPA warned that it would have to hand back responsibility to CCC for 17 miles of the park's most well-trodden urban routes in towns like Ambleside, Bowness and Windermere; as well as rights of way on all the park's 189 bridges plus public liability insurance for the whole national park network.

See Lakes Guide and News - Park for more.