HOMEOWNERS who need to drive across land belonging to Malvern Hills Conservators to reach their property now know what it will cost them.

The board has been forced to levy a charge running into thousands of pounds under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000.

To get a legal proof or "easement", residents must give the landowner a percentage of the value of their property.

Conservators' director Ian Rowat said the only point at which an easement would be needed was when a house changed hands.

The Conservators applied to the Charity Commission for permission to charge less than the full amount, but were refused.

At a meeting last Thursday the authority's administration and resources committee reluctantly agreed to charge people the amount specified in the Act.

This is 0.25 per cent of the value for properties built before 1906, 0.5 per cent for those built between 1906 and November 1930 and two per cent for all others.

There is no charge for homeowners who can demonstrate that the Conservators have previously given them permission to drive over their land, or that right of way had been practised for at least 20 years prior to the Act.