A GOVERNMENT inspector has heard evidence as to whether a footpath in Lyme Regis should be designated a public right of way.

The three-day inquiry into Teneriffe Path, which connects Broad Street with Marine Parade, was held at Woodmead Halls last week. Lyme Regis Town Council is campaigning for the route to be opened to the public, believing that it has historically been a right of way - while Andrew Marriner, a resident who lives along the path, led the support for the path to remain private.

Inspector Heidi Cruickshank heard evidence from both sides, with a decision excepted later this year.

Geoff Baker spoke of his experiences using the route during the summer holidays when he was younger in the 1950s and 1960s.

He said: "It was more an accepted local right of way and the local knowledge that the path existed was passed down by generations.

"It was a bit of a death trap, certainly at the parade end of it. The steps were always covered in seaweed, it was always dank. The steps were so steep that you would have to be a lunatic to try to attempt going down there."

Helen Parker gave evidence of her experiences as a young holidaymaker, at a similar time to Mr Baker.

She said: "One of the mysteries was what was behind the blue door because it looked like a front door but it was not quite right.

"Only once did we see someone coming out of there. We could see steps and it was magical."

She added: "When I was 10, I made friends with a girl on the beach who invited me to come home for tea. We got to the blue door and around her neck was a piece of string with a key. She opened the door and for the first time, I went up those steps to her house."

Former town councillor Anita Williams, gave evidence in a private capacity.

She said: "We weren't permitted to go through the gardens so we used to Teneriffe Steps a lot. We liked that it was a bit quirky and took us out of the tourist areas. I have very clear memories of using it as a child and being told to use the rail.

"We started to be challenged in the mid to late 80s when I was a teenager. I imagine we were some of the annoying teenagers who made too much noise."

She said that after moving back to the town in the late 1980s and early 1990s, it had started to be locked.

Meirion Harries, Andrew Marriner's brother in law, spoke about his experiences of weekly holidays during several summers in the 1970s and 1980s.

He said: "There was a book of instructions which asked that the door be kept locked at all times.

"I had no doubt that anybody living in that flat would have locked the door."