The idea of Oxford's two universities joining to form a single seat of learning has been floated by Jon Snow, the retiring chancellor of Oxford Brookes University.

The broadcaster said he believes there could be "a fusion" of Brookes and Oxford University within the next 20 years.

He made his prediction, which will have traditionalists choking on their port, as he prepared to stand down as chancellor of Brookes after seven years.

Under his chancellorship, Brookes has undergone rapid expansion, with two thirds of Brookes's existing Gipsy Lane campus being demolished to make way for a modern university in Headington.

Now, Mr Snow thinks Oxford can look forward to a coming together of the old and the new, with economies of scales and their locations making some kind of merging with the former polytechnic irresistible.

In an interview with The Oxford Times, his last as Brookes chancellor, Mr Snow said: "This is a outrageous thing to say, but I wouldn't be surprised if in 20 years' time there were not simply a huge university city, in which fusion had occurred."

Warming to his theme, he said there could be "one major seat of learning, in which there would be a big vocational and academic element put in here, while down the road there would be a different sort of intellectual input".

On the face of it, the two universities could hardly be more different. Oxford University is the oldest university in the English-speaking world, while Brookes came into being in 1992.

Its Headington campus originally housed the Oxford Technical College, which in 1967 became Oxford Polytechnic.

Prof Janet Beer, the vice chancellor of Brookes, distanced herself from Mr Snow's comments.

She said: "Fusion of the two universities is not something that's ever been considered, but on his last day as chancellor Jon was entitled to be a bit controversial. This is not something that either university would wish to pursue, and could ultimately limit the diversity of educational experiences available."

A spokesman for Oxford University said: "Whilst the University of Oxford welcomes collaboration with Oxford Brookes University on many issues, any kind of 'fusion' of the universities has never been considered."