Plans to build a cycle track along an ancient right of way have caused uproar among councillors and residents.

Green Lane, Woodstock, is a popular footpath and bridleway but has been earmarked as part of a £42.5m national cycle network.

The track is pioneered by the charity Sustrans to mark the millennium with support from the National Lottery and contributions from councils.

Woodstock town councillor Emma Jay said: "A lot of us are very cross about the lack of consultation.

"We only learnt of the detailed plans last week and were told there was nothing we could do about it because it was already set in concrete."

The stone track will be a metre wide, but contractors will have to excavate another metre either side for drainage.

Mrs Jay said: "There is a lot of local opposition. Green Lane is a very special place and there is another footpath which would be much better as it is wider. "There is also concern about where the spoil excavated during the work will be dumped.

"We also understand the money will only pay for setting up the track and not for future maintenance so who will be responsible for that?

"I have to say to their credit they are now bending over backwards since we raised our concerns but even so, we cannot see why they can not put it somewhere else."

West Oxfordshire district councillors have agreed in principle to give £20,000 towards the project provided the amount is matched by Oxfordshire County Council.

County engineer Colin Carritt is working with Sustrans to set up the network through north and west Oxfordshire.

"I have to admit that between us we did not get our public relations right and we have to mend those fences. "It will just be a metre wide stone-surfaced track with some clearance of undergrowth but no more or less than when the countryside group clears the bridleway," he said.

On the advice on the county council's ecologist, waste would be removed rather than dumped alongside the path to protect wild flowers and plants.

"I would like to assure people that our intentions are honourable," said Mr Carrick.

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