The former Chancellor has vowed to support villagers in North Yorkshire campaigning to keep the famous Coast to Coast Walk coming through the heart of their community.

Rishi Sunak, the MP for Richmond, has met with parish councillors and businesses in Inglebly Arncliffe and Cross who fear the route could be diverted as part of the work to bring it up to National Trail standard – a campaign that has been spearheaded by Mr Sunak himself.

The government has announced that the long-distance walk, which starts at St Bees in Cumbria and passes through North Yorkshire before finishing in Robin Hood’s Bay on the coast, would be upgraded with an investment of more than £5m.

It followed a five-year campaign by Mr Sunak to have the walk officially recognised and supported as one of the family of UK National Trails.

Rishi Sunak has campaigned for The Coast to Coast route to be included in the National Trails family.

He argued that a walk, which attracts more than 6,000 people a year, many of them from overseas, should be improved and promoted to boost the economies of the hundreds of rural communities it passes through.

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Work will start shortly on improvements to the path, including the surface of some sections and better waymarking, but an outstanding issue is the A19 dual carriageway near Ingleby Arncliffe where the walkers have to cross four lanes of traffic travelling at speeds of up to 70mph.

National Highways, the Government-owned body which looks after trunk roads like the A19, is looking at various options.

Rishi Sunak MP for Richmond with villagers, business owners and parish council representatives outside the Blue Bell Inn, Ingleby Cross.

They include a footbridge, an underpass or a diversion of the route to use the existing bridge over the A19 at Trenholme Bar - what used to be known as the Black Swan crossroads.

However, villagers at Ingleby Arncliffe, Ingleby Cross and nearby Osmotherley fear a diversion would take the walkers away from their communities and harm the businesses which rely on the Coast to Coast trade.

Following the meeting, Mr Sunak said he would be contacting ministers about the matter.

He said: “Diversion of the route to the north would not work for these communities or the walkers. It would add up to eight miles to the trail and take them away from accommodation and refreshment.

“I will be urging the Minister to ensure the original route established by Alf Wainwright, creator of the Coast to Coast, is stuck to. These businesses help to make the Coast to Coast experience for visitors from all over the world and must not miss out on the benefits of designation.

“The principal point of my campaign was to give an economic boost to isolated rural communities on and near this world-renowned trail. Ingleby Arncliffe, Ingleby Cross and Osmotherley have many enterprises which rely on trade the walk on its current route delivers. I will work to ensure that remains the case.”

Local businessman, Steve Hewitt, owner of the Joiner’s Shop café in Ingleby Cross, welcomed Mr Sunak’s pledge and said even if the walk was re-routed people would stick to the original.

He added: “The existing route has been in place for years and years and people want to follow the original Wainwright route – to follow in the great man’s footsteps.

“If they did re-route, the walkers would still stick to the original anyway. It’s the route that’s in all the guidebooks.”

Ingleby Arncliffe Parish Council has said the best option to safe-guard businesses would be for a footbridge to be erected over the A19 as close as possible to the original route.

The Coast to Coast walking route was devised by the well-known walker and writer, Alfred Wainwright, back in 1973 and is one of the most famous long distance walking routes in the UK.

It is 195 miles long and uses a network of public footpaths, tracks, permissive paths and access land to cross England’s huge variety of landscapes, terrain, villages and three unique national parks – the Lake District, Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors.

The government says being part of the National Trails Network will mean the path is made more accessible for people of different abilities; signage and waymarking will be consistent across the whole route; circular paths and link routes will be developed to make the trail more accessible for shorter walks; the route is promoted to international and domestic tourism organisations; and there is a long term commitment of funding to help the local authorities maintain the path.

Rishi Sunak vows to help North Yorkshire village keep its piece of Coast to Coast route