A limit could be set on the number of properties to let in east Oxford as the figure has risen to more than three-quarters of housing in some streets.

Long-term residents, backed by councillors, claim communities are being destroyed because too many properties are let to short-term tenants.

The problem is worst in east Oxford where 80 per cent of houses in some streets are let to students, homeless families and asylum-seekers.

Oxofrd City Council's East Area Parliament has proposed designating east Oxford as an "area of restraint" with a limit place on the number of houses to let and tighter controls on the standard of rented housing.

Residents have complained that short-term tenants do not look after their gardens or clean up their rubbish and can be rowdy. There are also fears of crime when the properties are unoccupied.

East Oxford is popular with students -- the area is half-way between Oxford University and Oxford Brookes University -- and private landlords buy houses in the area to let to students at a large profit.

House prices have been driven up, forcing many people working in the city and surrounding area to live elsewhere.

It has been claimed that families are leaving the area and pupil numbers at SS Mary and John First School and East Oxford First School have dropped. But pressure for youth facilities, such as nightclubs, has increased.

Sadji Rizvi, 60, of Hurst Street, said: "It means a lot to people to know their neighbours. Houses with tenants often have two or three cars, which creates parking problems."

A 41-year-old father who lives in Regent Street, where more than 80 per cent of the houses are let, said: "I know a handful of families in this street, all the others are let."