OXFORD University undergraduates were subject to all sorts of rules and regulations.

One of the most bizarre was a ban on attending public dancing classes.

There was no objection to students taking private dancing lessons from a teacher with a licence from the Proctors, who were responsible for student discipline.

But attending public dances was frowned upon – it was feared students might meet “undesirables”.

The ending of the ban in 1954 was welcomed by William Brett, who ran Brett’s dancing school in Broad Street.

He had tried to persuade the Proctors to change their mind since he started the school in 1940.

He said at the time: “We were allowed to hold a special class for undergraduates, but only if we had four girls, each with four strong references.

“They seemed to think that we had a lot of loose girls here.”

A spokesman for the Proctors said: “We have been going through the regulations and the relaxation with regard to public dancing classes is a normal change to bring the rules up to date.

“Notices have gone up in the colleges with a list of seven or eight dancing schools approved by us.”

The reason given for the change was that many undergraduates could no longer afford private lessons.

Mr Brett said: “Some of them are very hard up. One undergraduate recently went down to the Post Office and drew out the last few bob from his savings so that he could have lessons.

“Undergraduates are a bit slower at picking up dancing than the town boys. They are very intelligent and nice young gentlemen. It’s just that they don’t seem to have as much rhythm as the other boys.

“The Proctors’ decision is good news. The young men will be able to get tuition in the evening, whereas they could only come for private lessons during the day before.”

Mr Brett’s registers revealed that students who had had private lessons at his school in the past included “Mr C Chataway and Mr R Bannister” – athletes Chris Chataway and Roger Bannister.