Pembrokeshire County Council's work on opening and restoring the county's bridleways network has been recognised with an award from the British Horse Society. Derrick 'Dekker' Thomas, one of the council's two countryside access officers, has been named as one of the society's 'Good Guys' for 2007 and presented with a Riders Charter Award. Sue Enfield from Amroth, chairman of the BHS's South West Wales Region Committee, made the award during the society's Access Week which highlights the work of maintaining, extending and promoting a safe network for off-road riding. She said that 'Dekker' had received the award because he understood the importance of opening bridleways, not only for rider and walkers, but also for cyclists and the disabled. She went on: "On behalf of the county council, he is committed to seeing through the local committee's aim of long distance, multi-user routes for local riders and as a way of promoting the tourist industry in Pembrokeshire. "With a new ride open from Shropshire to the west coast of Wales, perhaps, in the not too distant future, we will be able to link up to that as well." The county has around 2,262 kilometres of rights of way and until funding became available a few years ago, only 34 per cent were open. Today the figure is almost twice that with the county council spending around £233,000 clearing and re-opening rights of way and maintaining those already in use. Said 'Dekker': "The award came as a complete, but pleasant, surprise and I am delighted to receive it as it recognises the amount of input by the authority as a whole and in particular by the council's rights of way team based in County Hall, Haverfordwest. "We also couldn't do our work without the co- operation we receive from land-owners and the town and community councils the length and breadth of Pembrokeshire, together with some grant aid assistance from the Countryside Council for Wales."