The driving force behind a move to make Oxford a Business Improvement District has spoken of his disappointment at having his plans rejected.
City centre traders voted against the proposal that would have meant them paying an extra one per cent on top of their business rates in return for extra services such as deep cleaning of the streets and warden patrols.
Out of 356 votes cast, 56 per cent rejected the proposal, from a turnout of 41 per cent.
Oliver O'Dell, chief executive of city centre management company OX1, said: "I am very disappointed. It is a missed opportunity.
"If you look at other successful cities around the country, pretty much all of them have a BID but Oxford likes to be different."
Mr O'Dell believes the BID failed because businesses could not see beyond paying extra money over and above the business rates, despite the original proposed levy of 1.5 per cent being cut to one per cent.
He added: "If you look at other BIDs that have been successful in the country, the levy has not been that important as it has acted as a means of bringing in other sources of funding.
"Businesses in Oxford did not understand that opportunity."
OX1 spent "under £40,000" on the BID process, according to Mr O'Dell, the majority of which was funded by the South East England Development Agency, although some came from Oxford City Council and Oxfordshire County Council.
Mr O'Dell said he would now analyse the results of the ballot and discuss what businesses wanted in future.
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