A HOME owner in North Dorset had a nasty shock when he carried out a land search on his new property and found that a public footpath cut right across his back garden.

But rights-of-way chiefs at County Hall say the position of the footpath in Shaftesbury was incorrectly shown on the definitive map and have agreed to alter it.

They also admit that due to the small scale of the 1989 definitive map, many other footpaths across Dorset are incorrectly shown and they plan to completely redraw it in the next few years.

"The devil is in the detail," said county countryside and access manager Terry Sweeney. "Things on the ground are different from what is shown on a small-scale map.

"When the map was drawn in the 1980s it was done to a scale of two-and-half inches to a mile which does not show all the detail, and now causes us all sorts of problems."

The footpath was shown on the map as going from Kingsman Lane and over the allotments and behind some St James's Street properties, as well as through some of their gardens, before cutting across Ratcliff's Garden.

But according to larger-scale maps drawn up in 1886, 1902 and 1930, the correct route of the public path is shown skirting the boundaries of the allotment and the rear of the gardens of the St James's Street properties.

"This is an example of what happens when a thick red pen is used to mark footpaths on a small-scale map," said Mr Sweeney.

"So we look at the earlier maps which are more accurate and then talk to local residents to find out where they do walk and then alter the definitive map to show the correct route.

"It will be quite an exercise redrawing the definitive map."