OXFORD-BASED Americans yesterday backed Barack Obama in the race for the US presidency.

For the first time, a voting centre was set up in the city for the primary vote to select the Democrat candidate for America's top job.

The result was a clear victory for Mr Obama, who is bidding to become the country's first black president.

Over the course of 4 hours, 144 Americans living in Oxfordshire, plus some from further afield, cast their votes - and 118 were in favour of Mr Obama, with just 26 backing Hillary Clinton.

Mrs Clinton's husband, former president Bill, and daughter Chelsea, both attended Oxford University.

Dan Weeks, chairman of Democrats Abroad Oxford, said he was behind Mr Obama.

He said: "Many people, although they have the opportunity to vote by mail, do not exercise that because it feels less tangible and removed from the actual process.

"We are thrilled by the response, a lot of the people are new faces, Americans in Oxford who have not been involved in the Democratic Party but who are learning about it and taking part.

"The level of awareness and excitement around this election exceeds anything I have seen in politics."

Hundreds more Americans living in Oxfordshire are expected to have cast their votes online, with several thousand American Democrats thought to live in the county.

Oxford was one of just two voting centres in the UK, the other being in London, and was chosen as it is the only place outside the capital to have a recognised chapter of the party.

Many of the voters were American students at Oxford University.

Among those casting their vote was Prof Ron Bush, who teaches American Literature at the university and has lived in the country for ten years.

He said: "I think it is very important both for the people living abroad and for the Government to recognise there are a lot of us living here."

Sarah Schulman, 23, a social policy student, who lives in Jericho, voted for Mrs Clinton.

She said: "I think she is best suited to enact change and I believe in her policies. It's nice to be able to participate in the democratic process abroad."

Maria Repnikova, 23, a student at St Antony's College, was voting for the first time, and backed Mr Obama.

She said: "I think overall the policies are quite similar so I look at the leadership qualities and I feel he captures that more for me."

The Republican Party is also holding primaries to choose its candidate - but no such event was held in the UK. Republican Jason Carr, 19, said it was unlikely to happen in the future because of the small number of Republican Americans living abroad.