OXFORD City Council should be given more devolved powers and funding, a new report has claimed.

The report by think tank Centre for Cities called "Competing with the Continent" studied how UK city economies compare to their European counterparts, covering 330 cities over 17 countries.

It names Oxford and Cambridge as the only two UK cities that are in the European top 20 for innovation.

Leader of Oxford City Council Bob Price said: “It comes as no surprise that the report identifies Oxford as one of Europe’s top cities for innovation.

"We were shortlisted by the European Commission for the EU City of Innovation 2016 award, and our two universities provide a unique innovation base.

"The University of Oxford has just been ranked as the world’s best in the Times Higher Education rankings.

"We’ll continue to work with our fellow councils across Oxfordshire to agree a devolution deal with the government in order to address local constraints and exploit local opportunities to fulfil the productive potential of our city and its surrounding region.”

It wasn't all good news, however, as Oxford was one of nine UK cities to perform below the European average in terms of productivity.

The report argued that devolution of powers to the local level would allow Oxford to invest in its strengths to take on greater local challenges such as housing, employment sites and infrastructure.