Chiltern land owners will meet next week for crisis talks about Duke of Edinburgh’s (DoE) Award participants wreaking havoc to the countryside while on expeditions with their school or youth group.

Chartridge Parish Council have called a meeting, which starts at 8pm at Chartridge Village Farm, to address reported problems of young people trespassing, destroying crops and leaving litter on the land.

Ellie White lives on Chartridge End Farm in Chartridge and her land backs on to Braid Wood camp which is commonly used by DoE participants.

She has called on schools to fail pupils doing the DoE award if they break the terms of the scheme by not adhering to the countryside code.

DoE say that over 70,000 young people start the scheme in London and the South East each year.

Ms White said: “The thing that upsets the people in this community is the students on the Duke of Edinburgh scheme.

“They cut across my land rather than using the foot path and they leave all the rubbish.

“They also walk across the crops in full height. Once you get crops to that height and you have people walking through them, you won’t get them back to that height.

“I know what they are doing is a good thing but they have got to respect the countryside.

“They are not all bad people but it would really help if we were able to identify the groups that are causing the problems.

“The point we would like to make is that if we could identify the people who are causing the problems, then those people should not pass the expedition part of the award.”

Ms White even recalled one person throwing a large piece of wood onto her land which subsequently broke their combine harvester during peak season.

“It was very frustrating,” said Ms White. “We fixed it ourselves and invoiced the Braidwood Camp £300 for the cost of the repairs but they are refusing to pay it.”

Steve Herod who managed a farm next to the Braid Wood camp said: “They seem to just be let loose.

“They don’t seem to have a clue what they can and cannot do. I had one lot who came right across the field while I was spraying the crops.

“It has progressively got worse over the last three or four years. I blame the people who just let them go. They need some sort of guidance.”

Christian Scott, The DoE Award South East director, said: “Chartridge and the wider Chilterns are beautiful areas of countryside and therefore explored by many different groups, some doing their DofE.

“It is the responsibility of the Licensed Organisation (e.g. the school) to manage feedback or complaints about their young people on DofE activity and ensure their behaviour complies with DofE policy, and so we always advise that they are contacted in the first instance.

“However, as a result of direct contact from Chartridge residents, the DofE’s South East office has met with Chartridge Parish Council to discuss their concerns, visited local campsites and arranged for DofE staff to be in the area at identified ‘peak times’ to monitor land use.”

A spokesperson from the Braid Wood management committee said: “The committee is well aware about the issue of non-Scouting youth groups dropping litter whilst hiking on footpaths in the local area.

“The committee is making strenuous continuous efforts to strongly brief all users of Braid Wood and urge them not to drop litter.”

Liz van Hullen from Chartridge Parish Council said: “We have in the past involved the D of E Offices and local camp sites in open discussions to gain insight into how participants are trained and how the D of E manages these issues - however feedback from locals is that this is not working.

“We are keen to see the continued use and enjoyment of these wonderful surroundings by young people and sincerely hope we and the D of E can work together to help protect the beauty of the Chilterns.”

Mr Scott said that in order to follow up a complaint about a DoE participant, they will need confirmation the person involved is part of the scheme, the name of the organisation involved and the date and time of the incident.

Chartridge residents can contact the DofE South East office by emailing southeast@dofe.org.