OXFORD City Council leader Bob Price has said there is a "strong case" for reconsidering Brexit.

Labour councillor Mr Price said the Government "could not ignore" nearly four million people who have signed a petition calling for a second referendum.

While Oxford came out vastly in favour of remaining in the EU, with more than 70 per cent of people in the city voting to Remain, nationally just 48.1 per cent voted to Remain while 51.9 per cent voted Leave – a difference of 1.3 million.

Mr Price said: "That is a very small margin on which to make a decision.

"We also know that a significant number of people who voted leave said they didn't realise what it was going to mean.

"I think the implications may yet sink in."

Asked if he thought the UK should hold a second referendum, as the petition to Parliament calls for, he said: "I think there is a strong case, if the petition goes to Parliament, for taking a view at that stage as to whether article 50 should be triggered or whether there should be further discussions.

"You can't ignore four million people."

Of those millions, more than 60,000 are from Oxfordshire, and most of those – 13,460 – come from the Oxford East Parliamentary constituency.

Mr Price also warned major Oxford companies and organisations such as BMW, Siemens and Oxford University could be hit by Brexit, either through loss of EU funding or through potential trade tariffs that could be stuck on the UK once the country has left the union.

Conservative Wantage MP Ed Vaizey said yesterday he was in the process of arranging a meeting at Harwell Campus to "reassure scientists" about their future.

Several companies and projects at the campus near Didcot have benefitted from EU funding in the past.

Mr Vaizey was also jokingly pushed on Twitter to run for Prime Minister when David Cameron steps down in the autumn.

Regarding the Labour Party's presumed leadership contest, with shadow ministers yesterday calling for Jeremy Corbyn to resign following a lacklustre campaign in the EU referendum, Mr Price and Oxford East Labour MP Andrew Smith have refused to comment.