Hotel rooms in Oxford are among the most expensive in Europe, new research has revealed.

The average price of a room in the city for one night is £113 - a price only beaten in the UK by London and Bath.

The average price of a stay in Oxford even beats the most expensive city in Europe - Rome - where the price of a hotel room averages £104-per-night.

Prices in Oxford rose by nine per cent last year, according to a survey carried out by accommodation website Hotels.com.

Martin Page, deputy general manager of the Randolph Hotel, in Beaumont Street, said there were a number of factors that contributed to the city's high position.

He said: "If you look at Oxford, while there may be a large number of hotels, there aren't actually that many rooms.

"Prices are high, because demand for the rooms that are available is high.

"Oxford is also a nice city to visit - and regarded as one of the most attractive in Europe - and with a lot of international business coming in from America and Japan, there's a lot of money entering the city from overseas."

A night in a double room at the Randolph, the city's only five-star hotel, costs £172, though guests also have a 24-hour concierge service, 24-hour room service and access to spa treatments.

At the budget end of the scale, the Nanford Guest House, in Iffley Road, was the cheapest room the Oxford Mail could find in the city, at £40 per night, with en suite bathrooms and colour television.

However, as well as being the cheapest hotel in the city, the guest house was also recently branded as the UK's dirtiest hotel by travel website TripAdvisor.

Manager Bart Cronin said: "I'm prepared to put in longer hours and work harder than other people, which is why my prices are low."

Coventry offers the cheapest hotel rooms in the UK, at an average of £57-per-night.

On the Continent, hotel rooms in the German capital Berlin average £66-a-night, while in Madrid they are £82-a-night.

Hotels.com spokesman David Roche said: "Whilst Bath's combination of high visitor levels and luxury hotels means it retains its place as the most expensive city in the UK, our data shows that Oxford and London are catching up fast.

"In the past, limited supply has made for an expensive night's stay in the university city, and although a number of new hotels have been developed, these higher star-rating properties have kept the average price growing, along with interest from visitors."