Residents have reacted with anger to news that a footpath is to stay closed.

The path, Vallis Alley, which runs from Holley Crescent through to Quarry High Street, in Headington Quarry, Oxford, has been closed since February 20 to allow music studios to be built.

It was initially meant to be closed for 20 weeks, and signs at the site suggest it would be reopened seven weeks ago.

However, musical instrument retailer Beecher Acoustics, in Quarry High Street, has successfully applied for permission to keep the path closed until the building work is completed.

As Oxfordshire County Council, which has responsibility for the maintenance of paths, did not have the legal powers to close it, the request was granted by bureaucrats in Government-offshoot, the Government Office of the South East.

Last week, it said the alley can be closed for a further six months, unless the building work is completed sooner.

Lou Hough, of London Road, uses the alley to take her two-year-old son, Joe, to school in Quarry.

She said: "It seems like an amazingly long delay and I can't understand why it needs to be kept closed for that long.

"The alley is the safest way for me to take my child to school by allowing me to avoid the busy junction of Quarry High Street and Quarry Hollow.

"Once the new school term starts it will still be very inconvenient for me and all the other parents who use it."

Sylvia Vallis, of Quarry High Street, whose family owned the bakery the alley is named after, said: "There are a number of elderly people living in the area with hip and knee replacements who are being forced to take longer routes home and are even having to walk in the road at points."

Quarry Hollow resident George Kershaw said: "It's a well-used route for people living in the area and its closure has caused many problems for the people who use it."

Beecher Acoustics director Jonathon Beecher said the delay was due to unforeseen problems with building work, and was unable to say when the alley would reopen.

Mr Beecher said: "The work is going ahead as quickly as possible but unfortunately, in the Quarry area, there is this unknown issue of where rock formations lie under ground. We've bumped into a large hole and have had to bring in pile drivers to carry out specialised work."