Moves to stop drivers taking a short cut to Oxford United's new stadium could be thwarted by a legal tangle.

When planning permission was granted for the Minchery Farm stadium, Littlemore residents were told that steps would be taken before the first match was played to stop drivers using a single lane track to cut through to Grenoble Road.

The disputed track

But plans to close the route to traffic have been stalled because Oxford City Council does not own the track and has no authority to put up a barrier without the agreement of people who have access rights along it.

As kick-off at the football ground in August approaches, people living in Minchery Road are becoming concerned about the hazards traffic using the track on match days will create.

Michael Beaver, of Minchery Road, said: "Football fans will walk a long way to avoid parking fees and long queues as people exit the ground at the end of a game.

"We do not want the track, which is already used by taxis and other vehicles, to become a rat-run."

Littlemore ward councillor Gill Sanders said that if a barrier was not put across the track, match days would become "nightmare days" for residents.

She added: "There would be many angry people who would feel they had been let down by the city council."

Long-time Littlemore residents recall that the track once had a gate across it. Jean Arnatt, a member of the local history society, who lives in Minchery Road, said: "I understand that when the cottages under the railway bridge were built for the employees of the sewage works in the 1950s, the gate that was there was removed to enable easy access for the builders' materials to be brought to the site. It was never replaced."

Council officers are holding meetings to discuss what can be done.

A spokesman said: "We are investigating how a gate can be put across this track. This will involve discussions with other individuals and organisations, which currently have a right of access across the track."