10.—(1) Removing a stone wall, or stone from a stone wall, is prohibited.
(2) But this does not apply—
(a)to widening an existing gateway in a wall to no more than 10 metres in order to provide access to the land for machinery or livestock, and in that case the ends of the wall created by the widening operation must be finished with a vertical face;
(b)to removing stone to use it—
(i)to repair another stone wall on the holding which is in better condition than the stone wall which is removed or from which the stone is removed;
(ii)to make minor repairs to a footpath on the holding; or
(c)if the Secretary of State has given the claimant written permission to do so in order to enhance the environment, improve public or agricultural access, or for reasons relating to livestock or crop production.
(3) In this paragraph—
(a)“stone wall” means a stone wall that is or was used as a field boundary with—
(i)a continuous length of at least 10 metres;
(ii)a continuous length of less than 10 metres which meets (whether by intersection or junction) another field boundary at each end; or
(iii)a continuous length of less than 10 metres which forms an enclosure;
(b)“footpath” has the meaning given to it in section 329(1) of the Highways Act 1980.