A REPORT into student numbers and accommodation in Oxford has been labelled “a whitewash” by residents’ groups.

The investigation by the city council found both universities were currently exceeding a cap of 3,000 students each living in the community.

Oxford University was found to have 3,251 students without college or university-provided accommodation and Brookes had 3,686 in this category.

But it remains unclear whether the threat has been lifted of both universities being stopped from occupying new sites for breaching the limits.

In January, the Oxford Mail reported that the council was ready to get tough on the universities, with deputy leader Ed Turner saying of the cap: “There’s not a lot of point in us having said it if we don’t mean it.”

He reiterated this yesterday, saying: “The rules are clear and the universities have to abide by them. That’s the end of it.”

However, the new report by council officers praises the universities’ efforts to meet the targets and does not mention the possibility of enforcing the ban on using new buildings.

The first indication of how the council will approach the matter is likely to come in the next few months, when the new Jericho Health Centre is due to open in Walton Street as part of Oxford University’s redevelopment of the Radcliffe Infirmary site.

The university’s department of public health care is due to move into the building.

Residents’ group representative Sietske Boeles said: “Oxford University has not achieved the target. If the council is serious about the enforcement of this policy, they should stop the university from moving into new academic buildings on the former Radcliffe Infirmary site.”

The council inquiry was ordered last year when East Oxford residents claimed that far more students were living off campus than admitted in university reports to the Town Hall.

The report praises both universities’ work to hit the targets and to provide accurate information.

It says: “Actual student numbers may fluctuate during the academic year. Despite these difficulties, the universities invest significant time to produce accurate data.”

But residents’ groups reacted angrily to the report. Ed Chipperfield, a spokesman for the East Oxford Residents’ Associations Forum, said: “Residents believe that the council report into student number returns is no more than a whitewash, and is misleading and inaccurate.

“It is based on figures that have already been debunked by our research, which used government-approved data.”

The forum is calling for an independent investigation.

Headington councillor David Rundle said: “The issue is whether there has been any gross abuse and the report finds no evidence of that.”

Oxford Brookes spokesman Edward Reed said: “We’re happy that the council’s student numbers report reflects the current situation.”

Oxford University spokesman Matt Pickles said the numbers of students living in the community were falling.

Mr Turner said the key would be whether the university had met its obligations when the time came for it to move into the Walton Street building.