THE Supreme Court has upheld the legal right to wild camp on Dartmoor.

Judges unanimously rejected Alexander and Diana Darwall’s appeal that people should not be allowed to camp without permission.

The decision rested on the interpretation of a Dartmoor by-law.

The law states that ‘the public shall have a right of access to the commons on foot and on horseback for the purpose of open-air recreation’.

The ruling said that references to open-air recreation were ‘open-ended and unqualified’ and ‘naturally includes camping’.

It comes after a lengthy legal battle that cut right to the heart of public access to the countryside.

In England, there is no general right to wild camp on private land, mostly.

Dartmoor National Park is among the few places where persons can camping without having to secure permission.

And it was Devon’s ancient moorland that was at the centre of controversy when in 2023 landowners Alexander and Diana Darwall won a High Court ruling.

The ruling afforded them the right to remove campers from their estate on Stall Moor.

Protests soon followed; campaigners went to the Court of Appeal and the decision was overturned - the right to wild camp was restored.

The Darwalls subsequently appealled to the Supreme Court, which today, Wednesday, May 21, ruled in favour of the legal right to wild camp on Dartmoor.