ANTI-Brexit campaigners have been ‘banned’ from parking a bus in a tourist hotspot in the city centre.

Oxford for Europe wanted to park the bus in Broad Street next week, as part of a national campaign.

City councillor and ardent Remainer John Tanner said highways authority Oxfordshire County Council had launched an ‘extraordinary attack on free speech’ by deciding the 'Brexit: Is it worth it?' bus could not stop there.

The national campaign, which asks people to think about the impact of Brexit, was launched in London yesterday.

But the county council said permission to park the bus could not be granted because the authority needs to ‘remain neutral’ over ‘any political activities on the highway’.

It is understood that Hollywood star Sir Patrick Stewart has offered to speak at the event, should it be allowed to take place.

The county council said it was ‘restricted’ to what it could allow on its roads under the Local Government Act 1986 – even though that mentions political parties and not broader campaigns.

In emails seen by the Oxford Mail, the county council’s civil enforcement manager Helen Crozier said it would not allow the bus to park.

That is despite campaign buses parking up in Oxford during the EU referendum campaign in 2016.

Just ‘one or two’ councils on the bus’s 33-stop tour have had any issue with it parking up, according to organisers.

Mr Tanner, the secretary of the Oxford European Association, said: “This is an extraordinary attack on free speech by Oxfordshire County Council and I hope they will think again.

“Whatever people’s views about Europe it is vital they can be aired in public.

“To ban an information bus from parking in Broad Street for half an hour is just silly.”

He said the rally – which is scheduled to take place at 2.15pm, with the bus arriving at 2.45pm – is still expected to go ahead next Monday.

But it is understood it could take place elsewhere in the city – off the highway – with the help of Oxford City Council.

Catherine Bearder, Lib Dem MEP for South East England, is among the other speakers expected.

Martin Crabtree, county council spokesman, said: “The county council cannot permit political advertising on the highway, whether it is signs or vehicles parked on the road for an event.”

Graham Jones, chairman of Oxfordshire Region of the European Movement, said: “I hope this can be resolved. The aim of this whistle-stop tour is to put the argument back where it should have been.

"Brexit will knock percentage points off the country’s growth.”