some 200 walkers and cyclists were barred from using the newly-opened footpath and cycle way between Kingsteignton and Newton Abbot Town Quay at Easter because of horse racing.

And racecourse managing director Patrick Masterson admitted that closing the access to it for five hours on Saturday had sparked ill-feeling, with his staff being verbally abused by a shut-out public.

He is now demanding a meeting in the next week with Devon County Council – which manages the half-mile long path between the racecourse and marshland abutting the river Teign – in the hope that a solution to the problem can be found before the next meeting on April 23.