An activist involved in the campaign to remove a statue of Cecil Rhodes from Oxford University's Oriel College has been handed a place at the university - as a Rhodes scholar.

South African student Joshua Nott, 23, was heavily involved in a sister campaign at Cape Town University, where activists attempted to tear down a statue of Cecil Rhodes, the British mining magnate, on the grounds that it symbolised racism and colonialism.

However, the privately educated student, who said that Rhodes' statue was akin to "swastika in Jerusalem", has now accepted a £40,000 Rhodes' scholarship at Oxford, where he will soon enroll on a postgraduate law course.

Although Mr Nott remains outspoken over the statue, he has confirmed that he will not join or help reignite the movement at Oriel College when he arrives next semester.