Huge sections of Berkshire and north Hampshire will be opened up to the public in December, under new right to roam laws designed to stop farmers and landowners fencing off commons, woods and other secluded areas from the general public.

Berkshire is among the first to apply the new laws, so government mappers have been charting unexplored the chalk downs, river valleys, commons and heathland, and will provide definitive maps on a special website. Ordnance Survey maps will also be updated.

Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Margaret Beckett, said: "Over the next 15 months the new right of access to open country and registered common land in the rest of England will be introduced in the same way so everyone will get the chance to enjoy the full benefit of the beautiful English countryside - a real tonic to body and soul."