Gloucestershire County Council has replaced 24 stiles to coincide with this year’s daffodil season.

The stiles have been replaced by kissing gates, which allow people to pass through while keeping livestock safely contained.

They provide greater accessibility as stiles can be difficult to navigate, especially for people with mobility difficulties, older people and those with young children.

Gloucestershire County Council’s public rights of way team has been working with Kempley Parish Council to replace as many stiles in the area as possible, with the support of landowners and farmers.

Landowners are responsible for footpath stiles and gates on their land and are expected to maintain them in good order.

However replacing the stiles with kissing gates is expensive, so Kempley Parish Council have jointly funded the new kissing gates with the county council. On heavily used footpaths, like the Daffodil Way, the new gates reduce maintenance costs for farmers so everyone benefits.

The latest batch was planned to coincide with the start of the wild daffodil season in Kempley and surrounding parishes, which attracts hundreds of visitors to the area each spring who walk the Daffodil Way.

KPC has also worked with local farmers and landowners to secure their support for the footpath improvements while helping them manage walkers on their land.

Martin Brocklehurst, chair of KPC, said: “We have had amazing support from our local family farmers for this scheme and from our local community.

“Every spring we welcome visitors to our village to see the wild daffodils and we organise walks with the support of our farmers.

“We want visitors to be able to enjoy our beautiful countryside, but to do so responsibly and remember they will be crossing working farms. That means following the paths, keeping dogs on leads and cleaning up after their pets so we can maintain the current positive working relationship with farmers in our community.”

Cllr Gill Moseley (LD, Newent) said she was delighted to have been able to support this project with funding.

“I’m very pleased that these kissing gates have been installed as they make the footpaths much more accessible for visitors,” she said.