The Oxfordshire chairman of the Ramblers' Association has said country paths are in danger of becoming suburbanised.

Chris Hall said plans by Sustrans to turn paths into long-distance cycle ways are threatening the countryside.

But Sustrans spokesman Kevin Saunders said: "We work hard to ensure that cycle routes are in sympathy with their surrounding country environnment."

The Ramblers have 2,400 members in the county. Mr Hall made the claim at the annual meeting of the association's Banbury, Bicester and Kidlington groups.

He said the county council had a duty to ensure people could enjoy all public paths, and not turn the paths into cycle speedways.

Referring to a hard, part-asphalt surface, laid on Dornford Lane, a green bridleway between Woodstock and the Bartons, Mr Hall said: "This nannying of cyclists, with whom we are happy to share the bridleways, has robbed the people of Oxfordshire of a grassy country path.

"What was a historic route has become the equivalent of walking in a town recreation ground.

"It's quite unnecessary, since the national cycle network includes much more difficult routes such as busy roads and deeply rutted tracks."

Mr Hall said he was horrified by proposals outlined by Sustrans earlier this year to incorporate more paths into the cycle network.

He added: "Sustrans has its eyes on laying a hard surface on parts of The Ridgeway.

"Parts of the Icknield Way, and sections of the Oxfordshire Way, which crosses from Bourton-on-the-Water to Henley, are also threatened."

David Robertson, the council's executive member for transport, said any work undertaken by Sustrans needed the support of the council's countryside section, part of the environmental services department.

He added: "We consult with local councils. The county ecologists and the countryside department are constantly in touch with groups like the Ramblers' Association.

"We have to try to strike a balance between the use of these paths by ramblers and cyclists.

"We always monitor the use of these paths because we want to deter the illegal use of them by motorcyclists."