THE New York borough of Brooklyn has rejected the chance to twin with an Oxford estate.

Blackbird Leys Parish Council's plans to twin the estate's 13,500 residents with a population of 2.5m in Brooklyn have been dashed because the American suburb already has too many 'sister cities'.

The Mayor of Brooklyn, Marty Markowitz, has turned down a formal approach from Blackbird Leys but parish councillors on the Oxford estate believe the twinning could still go ahead in the future.

The parish council hoped that by twinning with Brooklyn they could jointly tackle shared issues including social deprivation, crime and a zero-tolerance policy on litter.

Mr Markowitz said: "Brooklyn is not in a position to enter into new partnerships with other towns or cities at this time.

"We are flattered to receive a number of twinning requests on a regular basis, and have previously established a sister city relationship with the London Borough of Lambeth. We will continue to consider all of these ideas, and should circumstances change we will revisit the Blackbird Leys request."

Brooklyn currently shares sister city status with Anzio in Italy and Besiktas in Istanbul in Turkey.

The parish council launched the twinning project in September after vice-chairman Bob Avery returned from holiday in New York impressed by zero tolerance policies used against littering and fly-tipping.

A formal application to twin the two boroughs was sent to Brooklyn before Christmas and there were plans for a referendum on the issue in Blackbird Leys.

Mr Avery said: "I'm not disappointed. The fact that they have shown an interest and are prepared to re-evaluate as things change means negotiations are hopefully still open.

"The twinning application has not cost the parish council or taxpayer a penny, because I have done it all in my spare time and will continue to do so."

In January, the Leys Residents' Association proposed twinning Blackbird Leys with similar estates in Oxford's five established twin cities.

Oxford is twinned with Bonn in Germany, Leiden in Holland, Perm in Russia, Grenoble in France and Leon in Nicaragua.