A farmer's ingenuity has solved the problem of rural access for disabled people, writes ELIZABETH EDWARDS

Opening a gate that has an awkward catch can be hard for many of us, but for anybody with a disability the difficulty can be insurmountable. Walkers and wheelchair-users in the countryside often have to pass through a number of gates on pathways, so a straightforward and easy means of access is very welcome.

Phil Evans, who lives at Woolstone at the foot of the Berkshire Downs, discovered this problem when he was himself temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a fall from a ladder. Not a man to be discouraged by adversity, he set his inventive mind to devising a solution to this new difficulty.

A former lecturer in agricultural engineering at colleges in Oxfordshire, he had recently invented a gate catch for use on those at the livery yard run by his wife, Caroline. This allows her and her staff to ride or lead horses through a gate without ever having to back them up.

"As soon as the Equi-Catch was fitted to one gate, there were requests from the staff to have the catches throughout the farm," Phil enjoyed recalling.

Development of a variation produced the Kitch-catch.

"The beauty of this is that it only takes one finger to open, and just a push to close," said Phil. "As the catch does not have the gate hanging on it, the load never changes, so even if the gate drops, you do not have to lift the gate to open or close it."

The idea began to catch on. Local councils took an interest and tried out the catch on a few of their problem gates, and these trials were such a success that Phil decided he would have to apply for a patent on his invention.

The Kitch Catch Company was developed to supply catches for disabled access and as a means of complying with the Disability Discrimination Act, while Equi-Catch Ltd supplies catches to the equine world.

The Equi-Catch has an important safety factor when used with horses as the gate always moves in the direction the rider is travelling, so there is not chance of the gate closing on them and trapping them between the gate and gatepost. Also, the design has no long levers or heavy springs with which the rider has to grapple.

In both catches there are important benefits for the landowners, for ease of closing the gates reduces the risk of any being left open and they have also proved to be completely stockproof. The original catches were made of galvanised steel, but Phil decided that as he felt he had the best design, it required the best material, so it is now made from stainless steel.

"The catches will have no corrosion or wear, and they will need no maintenance," says Phil. "They should outlast the gatepost and still be there in 50 years."

The catches are very light, needing only a finger to open them in either direction. "It's as simple an idea as you can get," said Phil.

The Kitch Catch consists of a back plate to secure it to the gatepost, a yoke to hold the gate and a slide to hold or release the yoke. Once the slide is lifted, the gate can be pushed in either direction.

County and district councils, the National Trust, the Forestry Commission, the London Wetland centre, the national parks in the Lake District, Brecon Beacons and Exmoor, Taffs Trail, and the Magog Trust in Cambridgeshire are among customers and the catches are also in use on the North Yorkshire moors, around the Norfolk Broads and on coastal paths in Carmarthenshire. The Donkey Sanctuary in Devon uses them to keep its residents in the paddock.

Capt Mark Phillips took the idea to the US when he was training the American eventing team there.

He told Phil that he needed catches to fit to his one-way gates and when they next met showed him a bracket he had devised for this purpose. This is now sold as an optional extra.

Phil is philosophical about the effect on his life of that fall, which has since necessitated several operations.

"Being positive makes a big difference," he says. "We all think that things like that won't happen to us."