WALKERS are to be spared muddy shoes after work started on a footpath through Spindleberry Nature Reserve.

The 45-metre tarmac path will run from Frys Hill Park to the path that leads to Pegasus Road.

Blackbird Leys Parish Council has given £5,300 to Oxford City Council to carry out the work.

Chairman Gordon Roper said he was delighted work had started as winter rains started to hit the estate.

He said: “It is muddy at the moment. Now we have had all the rain, you are walking through mud.

“It is something we have been pushing for quite a few months.

“Now we have been told the council is going to get on with it, it is excellent news.

“We try to look after the residents. We see what needs doing on the estate if we have the power to do it.”

It is the latest cash boost to the estate’s parks.

In August, the city and parish council announced it had won £60,000 from Wren (Waste Recycling Environmental Limited), which hands out cash from landfill taxes.

Plans include a bridge, a natural play area and improvements to Northfield Brook to strengthen links between Frys Hill Park, Spindleberry Park and the reserve. Work is planned to finish by next autumn. The council is also consulting on plans for fitness equipment in Blackbird Leys Park in Pegasus Road.

City council spokeswoman Louisa Dean said: “We are delighted to be working in partnership with Blackbird Leys Parish Council and through this we have secured £60,000 of funding from Wren (Waste Recycling Environmental Limited) to transform Spindleberry Park.

“The funding is also being used to strengthen the links between Frys Hill Park, Spindleberry Park and Spindleberry Nature Reserve.

“We will be starting on the preparation work for the new footpath into the nature reserve this week.”