Aban on 4x4 vehicles using Gatescarth Pass looks set to get the go-ahead,to the disappointment of off-road drivers who are hoping a compromise canbe reached.

The Lake District National Park Authority's parkmanagement committee rejected a recommendation to impose a permit-basedTraffic Regulation Order on the route between the Haweswater Valley andLongsleddale.

They instead opted for a TRO which wouldpermanently suspend unauthorised 4x4 vehicles andmotorcycles.

Authority member Jan Darrell said she wasdisappointed that a permit-based approach for the route had been evenproposed.

"We have had problems on Gatescarth from the yeardot.

I am getting impatient with the damage and how long it'sgoing to go on," she said.

She requested officers to draw upplans to ban off-road vehicles before the committee's next meeting inthree months time.

Coun Ronnie Calvin agreed that thelandscape had to take priority: "If we don't do something now to lookafter the national park we should all resign from this authority en bloctoday."

After the meeting, Nick Fieldhouse, of Kankku, whichoffers trips around the Lake District using off road vehicles, said hewelcomed the three months before the committee met again as a chance tocome up with some workable proposals for off-road driving in thearea.

"A lot of people want to use these routes because it'sa way of getting into the countryside for a relaxing day out," he said,adding that off-road driving was a growth industry in Europe.

Mr Fieldhouse said his company was prepared to repair the Gatescarth Passroute free of charge, and was keen to work with the LDNPA.

Themove to ban off-road activity on Gatescarth Pass follows a two-yearHierarchy of Trails experiment, which sought to eliminate irresponsiblegreen road driving by classifying routes according to the amount of usethey could sustain.

Signposts were installed on 115 routesshowing off-road drivers which tracks they could use and which should beavoided.

There has been a 50 per cent reduction in the numberof reported incidents of conflict between users of green roads, butcompliance with the code of conduct has been mixed.

LDNPAtrails management officer David Robinson said: "The results show thatvoluntary restraint can work, although not in every circumstance."

A review of the experiment has been published and sent out toparish councils, local organisations and authorities for theircomments.

A detailed report outlining options for futuremanagement of recreational green road driving is to be brought before thecommittee's next meeting inOctober.