Cannot delete remote branch in git

Question

I\'d like to delete a remote branch from my central git repository. The usual advice is to do \'git push origin :branchname\' or \'git push origin :heads/branchname\'. But

Answer 1

Someone has enabled a hook in the remote repo that is prohibiting the delete -- this is usually done so that someone can't push a rebased branch into the repo. (I maintain a fairly large collection of git repositories and they are all configured this way, although not with a hook.)

Look in the hooks/ directory in the remote repository. There will be a script named "update"; this is what's refusing to let you delete the branch.