OXFORD people are among the greediest in the country in consuming the Earth's resources, according to a new league table.

A report by the Worldwide Fund for Nature ranked the 60 cities in England, Scotland and Wales by their residents' average ecological footprints - and discovered each Oxford person consumes more than three times the resources the planet can sustain.

It used data from local authorities to calculate the area each city's residents needed for food, energy and resources and to absorb waste and pollution.

Oxford ranked joint 55th out of the 60 cities, with its residents having among the five largest footprints for housing, consumer items and private services.

The report claimed if everyone lived like residents of Oxford, we would need 3.4 planet Earths to survive.

And it said people living in the city needed an average of 6.12 hectares each - about the size of Oxford Brookes' Headington Hall site or Warneford Meadow - to maintain their current lifestyles.

The WWF said the results painted a "damning picture", with even those cities at the lower end of the scale consuming more than their fair share of resources.

Andrew Wood, a spokesman for the Oxford branch of environmental campaigners Friends of the Earth, said: "Individuals can make a difference, but cities need the backing of central and local government for their residents to make a significant difference.

"Three years ago, a £10m Government-backed sustainable travel project was launched in Darlington, Peterborough and Worcester and has already achieved an 11 per cent reduction in road traffic.

"Friends of the Earth want a strong climate change bill which will give three per cent year-on-year carbon emissions in this country, and that will drive economic measures to make it easier for people to lead a greener lifestyle."

Nuala Young, a Green city councillor for St Clement's, said: "I think it's disgraceful.

"People have talked in the council about how we're concerned about climate change - but we don't follow it through. There are many ways in planning that we could ensure our new build is 100 per cent ecological.

"We should be up there at the top. We have been dragging our feet."

Colin Butfield, of WWF-UK, said: "The battle for the environment will be won or lost in our cities.

"They have the highest potential for eco-living, due to local facilities, public transport links, dense housing and shared public resources."

Mr Butfield warned that the most green resident could only reduce their footprint by an average of a third, and called on the Government and businesses to play their part in cutting the nation's ecological footprint.

Newport, in South Wales, and Plymouth had the smallest footprints, while Winchester had the biggest.