THE city’s economic significance both nationally and internationally must be conveyed to the Government ahead of Brexit negotiations, a panel has warned.

Oxford City Council’s finance panel had wanted a directly elected mayor to champion the city’s ‘knowledge-based’ economy in a bid to safeguard investment and trade post-Brexit.

But with a proposal for combined authority and an elected mayor shelved, the panel ordered the council to ‘look again’ at how to persuade the Government of its importance.

It said BMW Mini’s decision to build its electric car in the city and the success in letting out Westgate units showed the city’s economy was doing well post-Brexit.