Pippa Middleton's hedge fund boss husband has told a planning inquiry that 'only a handful' of ramblers have used a footpath through the couple's £15million estate in three years as the couple fight a bid to reopen it to walkers.

James Matthews claims he and the sister of the Princess of Wales have had to upgrade an electric gate first installed when they moved into Grade I-listed Barton Court in Berkshire to 'enhance security' as local discontent surrounding the footpath application rumbles on.

The couple - who live in the 145-acre sprawling property with their three children - are battling with The Ramblers, Britain's walking charity, over access to the footpath in a six-day hearing after which the council will decide whether to declare the road private or public land.

Residents in the picturesque village of Kintbury have accused them of being 'arrogant' and 'alienating the community' by seeking to cut off a path which some claim has been used for generations.

They say the path was always left open by the estate's former owner - the late Habitat founder Sir Terence Conran - on the understanding that it could be used as a public passageway.

But the royal-related couple, who bought the estate from Sir Terence in 2022, claim it has never been open to the public and cite security and privacy issues with keeping it open.

Speaking for the first time at the hearing on Thursday, Mr Matthews insisted it was rare to see someone walking along the path.

'In the last three and a half years since I bought the house, I have seen only a handful of people, on maybe two or three occasions, walking along the drive,' he said.

'Each time I have spoken to them and told them it was not a public footpath. Each time they acknowledged that it was not a footpath, and asked for permission to continue.

'On each occasion I gave them permission to continue, but for just that once.'

After an opening three days where the inquiry heard from a string of residents claiming the route was a much-loved footpath they had used for decades, Mr Matthews instead said: 'Prior to moving in, I had visited the house only a few times. I did not see any members of the public using the drive on those visits.

'There was nothing in the conveyancing process which alerted me to any public use of the drive.'

He added that he and Pippa had installed electric gates and signs reading 'Private: No Public Access' and 'No Trespassing' at both ends of the path, when they moved in.

The electric security gate at the centre of the dispute was installed in September 2022, before West Berkshire Ramblers applied for a 'definitive map modification order' in January 2023 seeking to have the route formally recognised as a public footpath.  

The hedge fund manager said: 'In the period after the footpath application, unfortunately there has been a continued need to enhance security and the gates at Station Road have therefore been upgraded in the summer of 2025 and kept closed.'

Discussing the gate he and Pippa installed, he said: 'It is kept shut, except perhaps on the odd occasion such as when a visit by family or friends is expected.

'When the gate was put in, no one from the Parish Council or the village came to speak with us, or contacted us, about the gate to say that there was any problem with it being there.'

Thirty-five residents, backed by The Ramblers' Association, appealed to West Berkshire Council to have the lane declared a public right of way - but Ms Middleton and her husband have pushed back.

Mr Matthews also said keeping the pathway open would have security 'implications' for the family.

The former racing driver, who has not been accompanied by his wife at the first four days of the hearing, added: 'There are implications for my family, due to their high public profile, which means there is a need for a higher level of security than would otherwise be the case if the circumstances were different.'

Mr Matthews, wearing a blue suit and light blue shirt, then returned to his seat with no further questions asked, later offering a thumbs up signal to a member of the audience.

A representative for Pippa and James Matthews said: 'James Matthews, has the right to create a safe environment on his private property, for his young children playing outside, away from foreseeable risks through uncontrolled trespassers and traffic.'

Pippa Middleton married James Matthews in May 2017, and the family moved to Barton Court in West Berkshire in autumn 2022 after Matthews purchased the estate in August that year. 

The hearing also heard from former estate manager to Sir Terence, David Hill, who said that people 'rarely' used the route in question.

He said: 'I do not recall regularly encountering people on the drive who were being told not to be there. There was no consistent pattern of people coming and going.

'It's hard to estimate but probably one person every two to three months although sometimes not as often as that.

'Overall the need to challenge people on the drive arose so rarely that it was not something that required discussion.'

A public footpath can be deemed to exist if it has been used by the public uninterrupted for 20 years 'without force, secrecy or permission', or where historic dedication by a landowner can be inferred and accepted through public use. 

Mr Hill added that in 2017 he erected a sign pointing out the direction of the footpath, as well as the way out of the estate.

It was 'directed towards vehicular traffic', he told the hearing, adding that 'there was an issue with couriers and other drivers using the main drive when they should have been accessing via Benchmark's dedicated access'.

Sean Sutcliffe – who founded furniture design company Benchmark with Sir Terence – told the hearing the business had a 'private right of access to use' the path in question 'for the last 42-plus years', adding: 'The route was not a public footpath.'

He said: 'On rare occasions, whilst driving down the drive myself, I would see pedestrians on foot using the drive.'

Mr Sutcliffe – who spoke to the hearing from his home in Copenhagen – said there was 'probably' a sign reading 'Barton Court – private road' by the drive when he first arrived there in 1983 – two years before he and Sir Terence started the business in 1985.

He added that further signs commissioned by Benchmark were put up in the years that followed.

Stephen Cook – who has lived in the area his entire life – said he has been involved in a local orienteering group since the early 1980s and the path in question 'was never shown on any of the maps given to us as part of the event'.

He added: 'That would never even have been contemplated by the organisers. A private drive such as this could not be used as part of the event.'

The local – who was previously chairman of the Kintbury Parish Council – said the path was never 'raised or discussed' as a footpath that the parish council 'thought should be added to the map and formally recorded'.

Jon Chidsey, who has worked as a gardener at Barton Court since 1980 and has lived on the estate since 1986, said: 'I did not really see anyone using the drive. If I did see people who were lost, they were mostly fishermen who had driven towards the house.

'I would ask them politely to turn around. This did not happen very often – maybe 2-3 times a year.

'There was more of an issue with vehicles than pedestrians. I don't remember ever seeing cyclists.'

Similarly, Anthony Stansfeld, 80, told the hearing: 'I have always known that the front drive to Barton Court was private, though when the house was a prep school, Purton Stoke, the gate was rarely closed as school teachers, staff and parents used the drive constantly.

'When owned by Mr Conran the drive was still private, though some people may have walked down it. Those that did were trespassing.

'The reason the gates on the drive were not closed is that for many years the lodge gates were not occupied by staff so drivers would have to get out of their cars to open them, so they were generally, but not always, left open.'

On the electric gate erected by the Matthews family, Mr Stansfeld – who was District Councillor for Kintbury and was on the Executive of West Berkshire Council – said he thought the idea was 'eminently sensible, especially in view of their security arrangements'.

He added: 'I personally do not know the Matthews family. I have only met them once when I sat behind them in church at a carol service just before Christmas two years ago.

'I remember it particularly as their young son kept trying to pinch my hymn book.'

'I believe the case for making the front drive to Barton Court a public footpath is based on fallacies. I probably know the area better than any one, and I know that the drive to Barton Court is private and always has been.'

Many villagers say they have used the footpath for decades and it allows them to avoid walking through the dangerous Station Road, which has no pavement.

But others, including a former resident of the estate who flew in from Australia to support Mr Matthews, said walkers have only used the route extremely rarely.

Mr Matthews admitted his 'first hand knowledge' of the route is 'limited'.

He said: 'Unlike the many witnesses that I am calling to give evidence. I cannot for example give evidence about how it has been used over the decades past.

Mr Matthews added: 'In the last three and a half years since I bought the house, I have seen only a handful of people, on maybe two or three occasions, walking along the Drive.

'Each time I have spoken to them and told them it was not a public footpath. Each time they acknowledged that it was not a footpath, and asked for permission to continue. On each occasion I gave them permission to continue, but for just that once.'

The attempted closure of the route has 'alienated' the village, according to Tony Vickers, a local Liberal Democrat councillor.

He told the Daily Mail: 'They've upset an awful lot of people.

'I don't understand their motive for closing the route. They could easily get more security outside the house rather than closing the path through the estate and alienating the village.

'When rich and famous people move here they have the opportunity to get involved with the community, they don't need to upset people.'

A spokesperson for Pippa Middleton and James Matthews, said: 'For as long as records exist, there has never been a footpath/public right of way on the land currently under discussion.

'For decades past, there has always been signage pointing out this is the driveway to a private property, with no public access. There are other clearly marked footpaths nearby.

'Contrary to media reports, the previous owners at the property from as far back as the 1970s did not allow public access to the land under discussion. It has always been private property.'