A new pedestrian path will be opened up this weekend as King's Lynn Ramblers, assisted by the Gaywood Valley Conservation Group, Norfolk Rivers Trust and Norfolk County Council put the finishing touches.

The permissive footpath is the result of collaboration between The Woodland Trust, owners of Reffley Woods, King's Lynn Internal Drainage Board which owns the stretch of land alongside the Black Drain, and the Ramblers.

From Saturday, the path will connect existing paths at the Sandy Lane entrance to Reffley Woods, off the Grimston Road, with the cycle tracks which run to Gaywood and the Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

Allan Jones, a member of the Lynn Ramblers group, said: 'The government is continually stressing the need for people to take more exercise and get out into the country.

'This new path, which is a little over a mile in length, will open up opportunities for residents in the area to access the Woods from the south and the Gaywood River from the north, creating circular walks or linking up with bus routes along Grimston Road.

'At a time when many permissive paths are being closed, as subsidies to landowners are phased out, it is nice to see a new path being opened.'

The path has been made possible by timber importer M&S Softwoods, baswed on Lynn's Estuary Road.

The firm has donated all of the timber needed for the waymark posts along the route and the construction of a set of steps and a length of boardwalk at the point where the path leaves the wood and enters the Black Drain area.

Norfolk County Council has provided Finger Posts for each end of the path and the Drainage Board have updated notice boards at each end of their stretch of the path.

Reffley Wood is a semi-natural ancient broadleaf woodland interspersed with planted areas of Scots pine and other conifer species.

It forms a green barrier between residential areas on the eastern side of King's Lynn and the busy A149 bypass.

It also borders land to the west of the bypass at Knights Hill which has been earmarked for new housing.

The woodland has been designated as a county wildlife site due to the wide variety of species which make their home in it.