Oxford City Council has scrapped several outdoor events because it has not got enough money to fund them.

They include Jazz in the Park and the Oxford Balloon Festival. A council report, written by parks manager John Wade, also said the East Oxford Islamic Festival of Eid Lights, which celebrates the end of Ramadan, would not be held because the authority could not afford £3,000 to stage the event.

Christmas light switch-ons outside the city centre have also been axed because of costs, but the Town Hall will continue to stage the flagship event in the heart of Oxford.

Listing the events in his report Mr Wade said: "The following events will not be funded and as a result will not be held."

But Dr Taj Hargey, 45, chairman of the Muslim Education Centre of Oxford, said events outside the city were just as important.

He added: "Eid is very important to Muslims, it is a time of joy and happiness. If the council is secular and says all the community is equal, it has to fund all events.

"I am happy for them to cut costs, but they should not single out certain groups - that would be discriminatory. It could leave them open to legal action."

Eleven community events - including the Leys Fair, Jericho Street Fair and Headington Festival - will be funded this year from a pot of £18,000, while four 'core' events will be funded at a combined cost of £72,000: the city centre Christmas lights switch-on, St Giles Fair, Oxford Car Free Day and the Lord Mayor's Parade.

Labour city councillor Dan Paskins said: "At the budget the view was the amount of money centrally for funding events was about right. It would be sad if these events don't go ahead."

The only hope for the events is for the city's six areas committees, which have a combined annual budget of about £300,000, to pay, or find a private donor.

City council Green group leader Craig Simmons said: "It's a great shame when the council cannot find relatively small sums of money for events to improve people's quality of life. I would hope the area committees will jump in and keep some of these events going."

Last year, £10,000 was made available to community groups wanting to stage one-off events. No money is available this year.