NO RIGHT of way in Oxfordshire is safe if the county Conservatives get their way.

The county planning committee last week agreed to divert a much-loved public footpath for the benefit of two people who live at Bodicote Mill.

Local councillor and Tory leader, Keith Mitchell, spoke up for the land owners.

He argued that their privacy was more important than the enjoyment of residents from Bodicote, Bloxham and elsewhere who walk a traditional direct footpath past the Mill and through a local beauty spot.

It was an amazing example of looking after the few and disregarding the interests of the many.

If Mr Mitchell has his way, dog walkers, hikers and anyone who enjoys a country stroll, will have to walk considerably out of their way on this historic right of way.

The owners of Bodicote Mill were fully aware when they bought it that a public footpath ran next to their home.

Their complaints that they sometimes meet people outside their house or see walkers through the window will be met with incredulity by generations of walkers.

The Tories and LibDems voted to support the Mill owners and to refer the footpath to a public enquiry at who-knows-what expense to the public purse.

We Labour councillors were the only ones on the committee who voted to put the needs of walkers before the demands of two people for complete privacy.

No wonder so many people feel the Conservatives are leading us up the garden path. JOHN SANDERS (Councillor for Rose Hill & Littlemore) and JOHN TANNER (Councillor for Isis), County Hall, Oxford