Green Party activists believe they have made a significant breakthrough in Oxford by winning more votes than any other political party in the European elections.

An analysis of voting patterns from Thursday's poll, the overall results of which were announced in the early hours of Monday, show the Greens took 9,449 votes in Oxford, beating Labour to second place on 7,334 votes.

The Liberal Democrats trailed in third place with 6,452 while the Conservatives attracted 6,369 votes.

The Greens have said they are now confident the results will make people more likely to vote for the party in Oxford at the next General Election.

They will seek to challenge Labour's Andrew Smith in Oxford East and the Lib Dems’ Evan Harris in Oxford West and Abingdon in the hope of winning the party's first ever Westminster seat.

Elise Benjamin, a Green Party member of Oxford City Council, said: “We are very excited that in the whole of the European south east region, Oxford and Brighton were the two places where we came first.

“It will make a lot of people more inclined to consider voting for us in a General Election.

“It's a real boost for us and will make people take us more seriously.

“We are hugely encouraged by our increase in vote.”

The Greens fared less well in Oxfordshire's other four districts, where the Conservatives triumphed in the Euro polls.

The British National Party won 6,813 votes across the county, polling highest in Cherwell with 1,824 votes.

Labour fared poorly outside Oxford, finishing behind the UK Independence Party and the Lib Dems in the county's other districts.

The Jury Team, which polled 1,134 votes across the county, did best in South Oxfordshire, where it received 285 votes.

Oxfordshire's results were fed through to the South East total, which led to the Tories taking four of the region's 10 Euro seats, UKIP and the Lib Dems two each and the Greens and Labour one each – the same as five years ago.