Two motorcyclists who filled in a cattle grid they said put them in danger have spoken of their relief after being cleared of criminal damage.

Fred and Carol Marzillius were expecting to spend two days in the dock at Lewes Magistrates Court but were acquitted at the end of the first day.

The couple live on Telscombe Tye at Telscombe Cliffs and had to cross the grid to get home.

The hearing was part of a long feud between residents, Telscombe Town Council and the Sussex Downs Conservation Board, which manages the historic Tye for the council.

The board and the council decided to fence the field, graze cattle on it and introduce chalk mounds as part of a management programme.

Grids were installed to contain the cattle but the Marzilliuses said they were dangerous.

Mr Marzillius, 55, said: "We are really pleased with the magistrates' decision to acquit us. It is now accepted people did not get what they voted for in the referendum on fencing the Tye.

"We were not told of the barbed wire, cattle grids or free-roaming cattle. The farmers don't want the cattle on the tracks, the people who live here don't want cattle on the tracks.

"It is about time Telscombe Town Council started to listen to the people who live and work in this area, accept the mistakes it has made and rectify them."

The couple must wait 28 days to hear whether the Crown Prosecution Service is appealing against the outcome, which could mean a retrial.

The council, which dumped 300 lorry-loads of chalk to keep travellers and flytippers off the Tye, has been ordered to remove the mounds.