Stretching 190 miles (306km) from St Bees in Cumbria to Robin Hood's Bay in North Yorkshire, the Coast to Coast walk attracts thousands of hikers each year.

First established in 1973 by Alfred Wainwright, and now an official National Trail, the route passes through three national parks, across some of the most remote and rugged landscapes in the North of England.

But beyond the challenges of traversing the fells, meadows and moors - not to mention the sore knees - walkers face one more hurdle, the A19.

William Ainslie, who who has been selling organised trips on the Coast to Coast for 10 years through his Discovery Travel Holidays firm, describes the unofficial crossing point on the 70mph (113km/h) dual carriageway as among the worst in the UK, and actively discourages people from attempting it.

Where the route crosses the M6 a footbridge takes walkers over the road, while a riverside path allows for safe passage under the A1(M).

But Ainslie says he has regularly seen people crossing the A19 "by scurrying across the tarmac".

As part of the process of being designated a National Trail by Natural England in March, a diversion was created to the approved Coast to Coast route to mitigate the danger, with walkers redirected via Black Swan Bridge.

"The difficulty is that it has added five miles (8km), approximately, to the route," Ainslie says.

The Coast to Coast walk is tackled in stages, with some guides breaking it down into 13 chunks and others 16.

Traditionally, many hikers start a day's walking in Richmond, to the west of the A19 and end at Ingleby Arncliffe, to the east of the road, but this is already one of the longer days on the Coast to Coast trail, at 23 miles (37km).

While it's possible to split the day into two, Ainslie says many people do not have the "luxury" of taking an extra day, so to avoid the five-mile detour some are choosing to take their chances crossing the A19 on foot

A spokesperson for Natural England said it was "aware that many people are still choosing to cross at this point" but that it "strongly advises all walkers to use the diversion over the Black Swan Bridge".

Despite the problems the diversion causes, they said there were "currently no plans to build a crossing over the A19", although a 2019 report includes costed options that could be used in future.

Ainslie supports the message from Natural England.

"I organise walking holidays all over the UK - I can think of a few unpleasant roads," he says.

"I think this is probably right up there at the top in terms of danger."

However, opinions among walkers are more mixed.

Keith Newton says "hype and negativity" about the crossing makes it "something to absolutely dread".

But the 68-year-old from Norwich said his own experience was "honestly not that bad".

"There's a central reservation to wait in, so you only need to worry about one carriageway at a time."

Jane Redfern, 60, from Harrogate, said she had been "adamant" she would not cross the A19 but admits "that's what I ended up doing, rather than walk another five and a half miles".

Other members of a Facebook group dedicated to the Coast to Coast say the crossing is "no problem" as long as walkers are careful, with one post stating: "Thousands have crossed and thousands more will cross."

David Hugill, has been the conservative councillor for Hutton Rudby and Osmotherley, which includes Ingleby Arncliffe, since 2009.

"The only barrier to having a crossing at that time was that it wasn't a National Trail," he says.

"Now, there is no funding."

He says the detour uses a popular cycling route, and said he had heard "stories of people nearly getting knocked over by cyclists" along the trail.

He also says he doesn't believe its introduction has reduced the flow of walkers crossing the A19.

While he says there are no known reports of injuries associated with the crossing, near-misses are "never reported" and "one day we could get someone making an error of judgement and then there'll be serious consequences".

Sandra Hodson, from Wigton in Cumbria, walked the Coast to Coast last year with her husband Mike, who is a full-leg amputee.

She also has problems with her spine, knee, shoulder and hip.

They also walked Hadrian's Wall in 2023 and the Cumbrian Way in 2024, raising money for the charity Blesma, which supports military veterans who have lost limbs.

The pair reached the A19 after a "full morning of walking", Hodson, 60, said.

"It's 70mph, it's two lanes and it comes so quickly," she says.

"You haven't got an indefinite line to look down for cars coming at you. You can see a little bit of distance, but not a great deal."

Hodson says the detour route "wasn't really highlighted" at the time, and even if it was, it would have added approximately five hours to their walk.

"Our walking speed is so much slower, because Mike has to use crutches and I have to use walking poles."

They ended up being taken to the other side of the A19 in a car, which was due to stop at various points along their walking route.

"It's not ideal and not everybody has that opportunity," she adds.

"It is a wonderful, wonderful walk and to have to have that heart-racing moment of 'can I cross, can I not?', it kind of just takes the edge off."

With the Coast to Coast now officially recognised as a National Trail and a BBC adaptation of David Nicholls' novel You Are Here, which is set along the route, only likely to increase visitor numbers, Hugill is keen for a solution.

He is due to raise the issue with York and North Yorkshire's elected Labour mayor David Skaith at a meeting of North Yorkshire Council's Richmond Area Committee on Monday.

He wants Skaith to "commit some funding towards it", which could attract other match-funding and has suggested money for the project could come from the proposed tourist tax.

"That is money that [walkers] are bringing into the area," he says.

"I think there's full justification for part of that money to be used for infrastructure on the Coast to Coast."

The BBC has contacted Skaith's office for a response.

Additional reporting by Joe Willis, Local Democracy Reporting Service.

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