A New York suburb has rejected the chance to form its own special relationship with an Oxford estate.

Blackbird Leys Parish Council plans to twin the estate's 13,500 residents with a population of 2.5m in Brooklyn have been dashed because the suburb already has too many 'sister cities'.

The Mayor of Brooklyn, Marty Markowitz, has turned down the formal request but councillors believe the twinning could still go ahead in the future.

The parish council hoped by twinning with Brooklyn they could jointly tackle shared issues including social deprivation, crime, poverty and a zero-tolerance policy on fly-tipping and litter.

Mr Markowitz said: "Brooklyn is not in a position to enter into new partnerships with other towns or cities at this time.

"We are flattered to receive a number of twinning requests on a regular basis, and have previously established a sister city relationship with the London Borough of Lambeth.

"We will continue to consider all of these ideas, and should circumstances change we will revisit the Blackbird Leys request."

The parish council launched the twinning project in September after vice chairman Bob Avery returned from holiday in New York impressed by the zero tolerance policies used against littering and fly-tipping he witnessed.

A formal application to twin the two boroughs was sent to Brooklyn before Christmas and there were plans for a referendum on the issue in Blackbird Leys.

Brooklyn shares sister city status with Anzio, in Italy, and Besiktas, in Istanbul. Turkey, as well as Lambeth.

Mr Avery said: "I'm not disappointed. The fact that they have shown an interest and are prepared to re-evaluate as things change means negotiations are hopefully still open.

"We will continue to pursue the twinning issue because such a lot has already been gained and won't be looking at anywhere else.

"By actively going to see how they've dealt with their problems I would like to think we've taken some of that on board.

"It's given us the drive to achieve some of the things we've achieved on the parish council by using Brooklyn as an example.

"As a result we've been instrumental in raising issues about littering and fly-tipping which are now being broadcast citywide."