Historic buildings in Cornmarket will soon be floodlit with funding secured for a scheme to light up many of the city's best known sites.

Oxford City Council will invest £20,000 in the scheme, with Oxfordshire County Council expected to announce a substantial contribution next week.

Guide Friday, the tourist bus operator, will pay £3,000 towards the cost of lighting the 13th-century Carfax Tower.

Other buildings to be lit up include the Saxon tower of St Michael at the Northgate, dating from 1050, and the buildings occupied by Lloyds TSB and HSBC which form the gateway to Cornmarket Street.

Maureen Christian, the city council's executive member for tourism and culture, has spent three years seeking backing for the idea.

She said: "We hope that once people see how successful it is in making the city both safer and more attractive it can be introduced in other parts of the city."

Supporters of the scheme believe it will lead to a big increase in visitor numbers.