WILTSHIRE'S eight white horses are officially on the map.

Bosses at Wiltshire Tourism have put together The White Horse Trail a 90- mile walking trail which links all the hillside chalk horses.

Although the trail is 90 miles long the route has been divided into smaller walks for each individual white horse.

The trail passes several prehistoric sites such as the stone circles of Avebury and includes sections of The Ridgeway, Europe's oldest road.

Sarah Padwick, secretary of the committee of the Devizes Millennium White Horse, said the trail would be useful for both locals and visitors.

She said: I think the booklet is excellent. A lot of people are interested in doing recreational activities like this and taking on lesser and greater degrees of walking.

It's nice that the trail is split up into shorter walks so people can do a section at a time but if people are coming specially to do the 90-mile walk the booklet also contains contacts for Bed and Breakfast establishments, pubs, teashops and village shops.

Mrs Padwick was a leading figure in getting a new white horse established in Devizes and linked the project in with the Millennium. The Devizes White Horse was completed last autumn on Roundway Down.

The other white horses are in Westbury (the oldest, dating back to 1788), Pewsey, Alton Barnes, Marlborough, Hackpen, Broad Town and Cherhill.

The booklet contains historical information on each horse. For example, the contractor originally responsible for the horse at Alton Barnes in 1812 was hanged for crimes including running off with the £20 advance payment for the work.

The White Horse Trail booklet is available, price £6, by calling the Wiltshire Walking and Cycling Hotline on (01980) 623255.