European fund manager Alexander Darwall has been accused of seeking to overturn the historic right to camp on many areas of Dartmoor after launching a high court review of the national park’s bylaws.

Darwall (pictured below), who made his name during almost 25 years at Jupiter running its European Growth fund and European Opportunities investment trust, owns 2,784 acres in south Dartmoor with his wife.

The accusation follows the filing of papers claiming the Dartmoor Commons Act, which provides park authorities with the legal basis to set rules on access, does not allow for camping without a landowner’s consent.

The papers, obtained by the Guardian, claim: ‘There is an additional requirement that the camping regulated by the defendant [the park authority] must only take place in areas where the landowners consent and subject to whatever additional conditions and requirements the landowners may stipulate in return for their consent.’

Speaking to the paper, Dartmoor National Park chief executive Kevin Bishop warned that the case could jeopardise major events such as the Ten Tors challenge and the work of charities such as the Duke of Edinburgh’s award.

He said: ‘If we lose this case there is a risk that campers would need permission from landowners and/or wild camping will be banned from certain areas.

‘It could put events like the Ten Tors at risk, which give so many young people a taste of adventure for the first time and opens their eyes and minds to national parks.

‘Backpack camping is an important part of how some people experience Dartmoor every year. It enables people to enjoy the more remote parts of the park and enjoy the moors’ special qualities, dark night skies [and] the sun setting and dawning over the Tors.’

A spokesperson for the Darwalls denied that access may be at risk telling the Guardian the couple ‘are simply trying to clarify’ the scope of the rules ‘given their responsibilities as land managers’.

‘I don’t believe that there is any risk in any realistic circumstances and I don’t believe anything Mr and Mrs Darwall are doing puts these at risk.’

Since purchasing the Blachford Estate on Dartmoor in 2011, the couple have reportedly come into conflict with ramblers over their decision to end parking permissions for access.

Bishop added that the authority would fight any attempt to restrict the right to camp, and denied that it created environmental risks.

‘We will defend the right to responsibly wild camp on the moor because national parks exist to both conserve the environment and to create opportunities for public enjoyment and understanding of nature,’ he said. ‘The Darwalls’ claims lack substance. Done properly wild camping is not, as suggested in this claim, a threat to the environment nor a significant risk of wildfires.’

Darwall left Jupiter in 2019 to launch Devon Equity Management, where he serves as chief investment officer. The £909m European Opportunities Trust (EOT ), which followed him to his new firm, was badly hit by the collapse of its big holding in German payments processor Wirecard the following year.

Its shares have de-rated to a 15% discount with the poor sentiment hampering Darwall’s ability to raise money for his new fund, Devon European Opportunities , which has assets of £38m.