A DECISION to block access to paths across Worcester's Pitchcroft racecourse on race days has been defended by the city council.

Four access gates to the cycle routes and pathways on the Barbourne side of the racecourse are locked up whenever there is a race meeting at Pitchcroft. A total of 21 race meetings will have taken place at Worcester by the end of the racing season in October.

The move has angered resident Bob Jones, of Wordsworth Avenue, Barbourne, who regularly uses the pathways and cycle routes along St Stephenson's Road.

He said: "I ride along it to get to work or get into town. For me it is a great way to get to town."

He said he believed the city council did not have the right to close the routes without a public consultation, but in fact bylaws in the Worcester City Council Act 1985 allow the routes to be closed whenever race meetings take place.

A city council spokeswoman said that technically the routes can be closed up to four days in advance but since the racecourse has been leased out to Worcester Racecourse Ltd in 2000, the routes can only be closed on race days.

City councillor Derek Prodger, who is the cabinet member for the environment and also has a seat on the board of Arena Leisure, the horseracing operator at Pitchcroft, said the routes have always been closed during race meetings.

"A lot of the people in Worcester think they have every right to go on there 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, but there has always been this little difficulty," he said.

He revealed that the council received a handful of queries every year about the closures.

"We need to make sure everybody is safe," he said.

"Horses, the public and dogs do not mix well together. I don't think we are being unreasonable. It's 20-odd days a year and the public can get back on there as soon as the meeting finishes."