Vehicle restrictions on Cornhill Lane in East Challow, near Wantage, have been overturned after a High Court challenge by the Green Lane Association.
Oxfordshire County Council agreed that the traffic regulation order should be quashed because it imposed a 1.5-metre vehicle-width limit, although the council had approved a version amended to 1.6 metres.
Mr Justice Fordham made the order by consent and required the council to pay the association’s legal costs of £7,595.40, including VAT. The judgment was issued on 2 October and handed down on 9 October 2026.
Cornhill Lane is an unsurfaced byway open to all traffic. The section covered by the challenged order runs between the A417 Faringdon Road and the B4507 Ickleton Road.
Width limit differed from the approved order
The official judgment records that the council made the traffic order on 22 June. The association’s solicitors set out four grounds of challenge on 14 July, and the council indicated on 24 July that it would consent to the order being quashed.
The agreed reasons state that the restriction as made did not reflect the order approved by the council. The challenged wording also covered motor vehicles and horse-drawn carriages with four or more wheels.
The court did not determine the association’s other grounds. Any future consideration of a replacement order would have to address those points afresh, and the association retains the right to challenge a further order.
Dispute over damage and countryside access
In its December 2025 officer report, the council said larger motorised vehicles had repeatedly damaged the lane’s central sunken section, with ruts returning despite surface repairs and drainage work.
Officers argued that restricting larger vehicles would protect the route for other users. The report proposed a 1.6-metre limit to accommodate some horse-drawn carriages, including those used by people with disabilities, while limiting larger vehicles.
The Green Lane Association disputes the suitability of the council’s repairs and says excluding motorists was not justified. Those arguments were not resolved by this consent order.
Dave Gravelle, the association’s chairman, said in a supplied statement:
“We are pleased that Oxfordshire County Council accepted that the Traffic Regulation Order they were trying to impose was not valid but we would have much preferred to have been able to resolve this by more informal channels. Rights of way are for everyone to enjoy, including those who may be elderly or disabled and unable to walk or ride a bike or horse.”
The association says the outcome restores access for all types of countryside users. It hopes to work with the council on maintaining the byway, including volunteer clearance of overhanging vegetation.
The ruling removes the challenged order. It does not prevent the council from considering a new restriction through the appropriate process.
