THE price of love could help send youngsters on an exchange trip to Holland after 1,000 romantic red roses were put up for sale on St Valentine's Day to help pay for the trip.

Oxford City Council spurned tulips from Amsterdam, to sell roses from Leiden in Holland, offering the Dutch blooms for sale to star-crossed lovers at £1.50 a time in Oxford on Saturday.

Money raised by the sales, which took place at the Redbridge Park and Ride in Abingdon Road and in pubs and restaurants in the city centre, will go towards the cost of sending a party of 100 young people to Leiden, Oxford's Dutch twin city, from April 14 to 18.

May Wylie, Oxford City Council twinning officer, was on hand to help sell the blooms but said they were hampered by a lack of love in the air.

She said: "We don't know the full amount raised yet but it was a bit disappointing because people didn't seem very keen to buy roses for their Valentines.

"We had to keep dropping the price in order to get rid of them which we just about managed. We just hope we're in profit."

The trip is expected to cost £2,500 and sponsored events are also being planned.

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