A member of the White Cliffs Ramblers has won a national award for her work in keeping footpaths open.

Averil Brice, 71, was presented with a Ramblers Volunteer Award at the opening of the White Cliffs Walking Festival at Deal Memorial Bandstand.

It was presented by Ramblers’ chairwoman Kate Ashbrook.

Averil, who lives in Mill Lane, Hawkinge, with husband Steve, was The Ramblers’ Kent Footpath Officer for four years.

She retired last year, and spent a year as Kent Ramblers Footpath Maintenance Officer, before standing down a few months ago.

She has organised and led teams to go out clearing paths of overgrown vegetation and other obstructions all over the county, many of them in south and east Kent.

She and Steve, 74, regularly go out themselves clearing to make the paths walkable, and have personally cleared more than 100 miles of paths in Kent over the years.

She has also worked with scores of landowners and various local authorities in the county to get paths cleared and new routes created.

Averil also found the time to be secretary of the White Cliffs Ramblers for five years, standing down last year.

Averil and Steve, who celebrate their 52nd wedding anniversary this month, have a son and a daughter and four grandsons.

During her working life, Averil has worked as a chemist, a newspaper advertisement representative at the Mercury's sister paper, the Kentish Express in Ashford, and a car saleswoman. She has also run a riding school and livery yard in Hawkinge.

Most of Steve’s working life was spent as a management account and business office manager.

The couple started walking footpaths in the Hawkinge area and reporting problems to the county council in 2010. They later joined the White Cliffs Ramblers to meet new friends and to walk outside their local area. Averil says “one thing led to another” and they soon became actively involved in footpath work.

Averil and Steve have found volunteering rewarding and very enjoyable.

She said: “There will always be work to be done to keep our favourite walking routes alive and in good order.

“The county council public rights of way team has an impossible task and scant resources.

They need to know where the problems are and rely on the public to tell them.”

Walkers can report problems like overgrown paths, broken stiles and obstructions on www.kent.gov.uk/waste-planning-and-land/public-rights-of-way/report-a-problem-on-

a-right-of-way.