Elderly Queensbury residents are lobbying Bradford Council to unblock a back road they claim has been used as a thoroughfare for decades.

About 50 people have signed a petition calling on the authority to make the ginnel from Nelson Street to Chapel Lane an official right-of-way.

The route, which provides quicker and better access to a new health centre and shops for residents of Goodwin House sheltered housing complex, is a private road owned by two adjoining houses.

But it is also a well-known and frequently used shortcut, and was surfaced by the Council a few years ago.

It has now been blocked off by Lony Kershaw, of Nelson Street, who owns one of the houses responsible for it. He says he is carrying out drain repairs.

But residents fear this is being used as an excuse to deny them access.

Elfrieda Williams, 77, is one of those backing the campaign to have the short cut re-opened.

Her 80-year-old husband James has Parkinson's disease and has to be pushed in a wheelchair.

She said: "I used this path when we were going to the doctor's surgery but now I have to push him all the way around.

"This path has always been used, I know people who used it 70 years ago to go to school and most of the Goodwin House residents rely on it."

Councillor Andrew Smith has leafleted Goodwin House to explain the situation and encourage residents to put their concerns to the Council's rights of way department.

A Council spokeswoman said: "We have been out to look at this case because of inquiries from the public but there's no record of any public right-of-way there.

"If somebody wanted to pursue this and establish a right of way, however, they would have to gather evidence and put their case to the Council."

The digging up and closure of the road was a private matter, she added, and not an issue the Council could influence.

To be declared a public right-of-way the campaigners would have to prove the road had been used as a through-route for at least one day of each of the last 20 years.

Coun Smith persuaded the highways department to surface the road a few years ago to make it better for wheelchair users.

He said: "The detour you have to take because of the blockage isn't that big but Nelson Street, where the path starts, is unmade so it's more difficult if you're in a wheelchair or if you're elderly."

Mr Kershaw declined to comment.