Holidaymakers are being charged to hike on a public footpath in the Dolomites as Italian farmers protest against over-tourism.

Four farmers have set up a turnstile on a route that winds through meadows and hay barns on top of the Seceda, a mountainous plateau in the German-speaking South Tyrol province.

It leads to a view of the Odle mountain massif and has become increasingly popular with visitors, with 8,000 people flocking there on a single day last week.

Fed up with receiving no money from the tourists, the farmers installed the turnstile and now demand €5 per person for access to the path.

It is a highly controversial initiative because it contravenes the long-established right to roam through the mountains.

There are only a very few places in Italy where walkers are charged an access fee, including the Via dell’ Amore or Path of Love on the Cinque Terre coastline in the northwestern region of Liguria.

Critics say the turnstile could be the thin end of the wedge, arguing that if it was allowed to remain, other farmers in the Dolomites and the Alps may be tempted to do the same thing.

The turnstile was initially set up for a brief period in July, with the farmers saying it was a deliberately provocative move that they hoped would spur the authorities to help them.

They closed it down for a while, but when nothing was done, they reactivated it this week.