LAKE District commons are under their greatest threat 'in decades', the Open Spaces Society has warned.

Thousands of acres of land used for grazing stock could be lost to farming because of 'inadequate laws', claims the society's chairman Graham Bathe.

His comments coincide with the launch of Mr Bathe's new book - Common Land - which the society has published this week.

"Contrary to popular belief, all commons are owned properties and their future cannon be guaranteed," said Mr Bathe. "The laws that protect them are inadequate and commons and village greens are probably under greater threat today than they have been for decades."

He pointed out that the Ministry of Defence was 'trying to remove a massive 16 square miles of commons in Cumbria from the commons register' and that United Utilities had 'applied for six miles of fencing across Thirlmere commons in the Lake District'.

"More insidiously, commons are constantly being eaten away by unlawful encroachment, fencing, car-parking and rubbish-dumping," said Mr Bathe. "Unfortunately, no public body has ever been given a specific duty to protect our vulnerable commons."

He added: "The Open Spaces Society has existed for 150 years to defend our commons from encroachment and development. We hope that our book will help to make people saware of the value of our commons and that this Easter they will get out there and explore their local common."

Common Land, a 32-page paperback, is published in conjunction with Pitkin (The History Press) at £5, including p&p. To order a copy, visit http://www.oss.org.uk/what-we-do/publications/