A LEGAL hiccup has delayed the start of building work for a discount store in Chipping Norton because the county council had "forgotten" it had already sold the land.

German foodstore chain, Aldi, was granted planning permission for a store in the town on the former Highways depot at Cromwell Business Park, back in May this year.

The nod of approval from West Oxfordshire District Council's Uplands Planning Committee had included the change of use for the site off Banbury Road, .

Now, a stumbling block has been unearthed linked to a legal agreement surrounding access for pedestrians and cycles.

The proviso attached to approval was that the store provides a footpath link to London Road and this was agreed.

Now it has transpired that this could never have been suggested as the county council had transferred ownership of the land required for the footpath some years earlier to Country Estates, in Cromwell Business Park.

At a meeting of Chipping Norton Town Council recently, West Oxfordshire District Councillor Geoff Saul told members that the district council is urging the county council to negotiate with Country Estates to see if they would allow access across their land.

Councillor Saul said that £35,000 from Aldi had been ring-fenced for either footpath or access improvement and path widening, though the pedestrian footpath and cycle route to London Road was favoured the most.

He said that if the money was not used within five years it would have to be given back to the store.

Councillor Mike Tysoe, chairman of Chipping Norton Town Council suggested they too contact Country Estates,

"We need to write to them and implore with them on behalf of the public for a sensible negotiation with Oxfordshire County Council. We think that would make sense," he said.

A spokesman for Oxfordshire County Council said permission for planning was still valid but a 2009 High Court ruling stated that any pathway crossing the landscape strip retained by Oxfordshire County Council could not be introduced without permission of Country Estates, which own the adjacent Cromwell Park.

He added: "The council will continue to petition Country Estates to permit the path and have set aside £35k for the creation of this path or to improve access by sustainable modes at other entry points."

However, Mathew Jeal, Country Estates land and planning manager, said it was the first he had heard about the legal agreement and no one from the county council had yet been in touch.

No one at Aldi was available for comment when the Journal went to press.