Oxford has submitted its application to become the 2008 European Capital of Culture yesterday.
The application was handed in by bid co-ordinator Joe Simpson to the Department of Culture, Media and Sport in London.
City leaders were forced to abandon plans to deliver the application in an open-top Oxford tour bus, after civil servants said the bus would create too many traffic problems in Cockspur Street, just off Trafalgar Square.
The other towns and cities to submit bids were Belfast, Birmingham, Brighton, Bristol, Canterbury, Cardiff, Inverness, Liverpool, Norwich, and Newcastle/Gateshead.
Mr Simpson said the focus of the Oxford bid was noticeably different from the others. He said: "Virtually all of the others were talking in terms of regional regeneration.
"The Oxford bid is a celebration of creative talent and the people who have been inspired by Oxford."
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