The Dreaming Spires, the magnificent architecture, an atmosphere steeped in history; there’s a reason Oxford attracts millions of tourists every year. In so many ways as a city it is unrivalled. But why, when I want a decent day’s shopping do I always find myself jumping on a train to London?

I’m not saying there aren’t any shops in Oxford, quite the opposite, and I’m not saying that all the independent shops that give it so much of its charm and character should be bulldozed in favour of multi-storey shopping malls but the fact remains that as a 21-year-old, fashion and shopping, unsurprisingly, are important parts of my life.

And considering the fact that Oxford houses two big universities I shouldn’t imagine I’m the only one. With more than 30,000 students there is surely an average concentration of students for what is comparatively a pretty small university city, so why, when it comes to exploiting this lucrative asset is Oxford so abysmal?

Counting shopping among my hobbies will always elicit groans from the less materialistic among us, but for those of us who take pleasure in retail therapy, Oxford is unsatisfying.

Life seems to be gradually seeping out of the Westgate Centre whilst the Clarendon Centre is little more than a cut-through.

The potential for Oxford to accommodate exciting, contemporary shops alongside both the traditional and the quirky is there, but it seems to be lying dormant.

Students aren’t famed for their bulging wallets but if there’s anything I have learnt, it’s that faced with the razor-sharp marketing propaganda of retail’s biggest brands, eating dinner for the rest of the week doesn’t seem so important.

So it’s not as if the demand isn’t there, not to mention the fact that Oxford and its surrounding areas have some of the highest amounts of disposable income in the country.

While it lacks high street staples like H&M, there is one thing that Oxford isn’t lacking in — coffee shops and cafes. I like a coffee as much as the next person but the sheer volume of them is staggering. Cornmarket Street for example has two Pret A Mangers at either end. It’s not all bad, the Covered Market is a wonder and Blackwell’s is probably the best bookshop in the world but for a city where history and tradition is bound to the innovative and the new, in terms of shopping, it seems tired.

If I want a really good spending spree I head to London, but in the pursuit of shopping happiness many people find themselves travelling to other towns and cities.

They might not have a fraction of Oxford’s beauty, individuality or charisma but for retail junkies they do provide some kind of shallow and usually only temporary satisfaction.

Oxford as a city has so much to offer and for so many things it’s the best around, but when it comes to shopping, how long are we going to be outdone by Milton Keynes?