Dominic Bareham HORSE riders fear their safety is being endangered by impatient and sometimes aggressive motorists driving down a narrow country lane.The concerns have been raised by a horsewoman at Browston Manor livery, who did not wish to be named, who regularly takes her horse for rides along Cherry Lane between Bradwell and Browston.

Dominic Bareham

HORSE riders fear their safety is being endangered by impatient and sometimes aggressive motorists driving down a narrow country lane.

The concerns have been raised by a horsewoman at Browston Manor livery, who did not wish to be named, who regularly takes her horse for rides along Cherry Lane between Bradwell and Browston.

But she said drivers are often rude to her and the two friends she goes out with, especially when they get stuck behind them as they are walking along the side of the road and some drivers have pulled up only 3ft behind the horse and started revving their engines.

She added some of the drivers broke the 40mph speed limit on Cherry Lane and would often fail to slow down to a suitable speed when passing horses, such as 10mph.

She said sometimes drivers would shout obscenities or tell them to get off the road even though it was a well known horse riding area and there were signs up warning drivers of the horse riders.

She said: “When we ride around Lound and Ashby people drive like maniacs. Sometimes it seems that people who are not riders have no idea about horses. All we are asking for is a little bit of courtesy with drivers just passing and slowing down into corners if there are horses there.”

The horsewoman believed the route was used by workers in Great Yarmouth to get to their homes in Lowestoft and the surrounding villages without having to travel down the busy A12 and consequently could sometimes be quite stressed if they were stuck behind a horse.

But she had not experienced any similar problems when she rode at stables at Hemsby.

“While I appreciate the hustle and bustle of today's society and the need to get from A to B that little bit quicker, surely a few extra seconds while waiting to pass a horse and rider could be afforded?” she added.

Figures from the British Horse Society show that in 2002 there were 117 recorded accidents and 11 riders and 33 horses were killed while many more were seriously injured.