Burma's leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been stripped of her Freedom of Oxford award.

Councillors on the city council took the "unprecedented" step amid widespread concern about her lack of action in dealing with the suffering of the Muslim Rohingya population in Burma.

It is the latest snub for Ms Suu Kyi after her portrait was removed from her alma mater of St Hugh's College, where she studied for a degree in philosophy, politics and economics between 1964 and 1967.

In a statement following a special council meeting on Monday, councillor Mary Clarkson said: "When Aung San Suu Kyi was given the Freedom of the City in 1997 it was because she reflected Oxford's values of tolerance and internationalism. We celebrated her for her opposition to oppression and military rule in Burma.

"Today we have taken the unprecedented step of stripping her of her city's highest honour because of her inaction in the face of oppression of the minority Rohingya population.

"The burning of their villages has been independently confirmed by satellite images, and the UN has called the situation 'a textbook example of genocide' - yet Aung San Suu Kyi has denied any ethnic cleansing and dismissed numerous claims of sexual violence against Rohingya women as 'fake rape'.