Nottingham City Council and the government are in dispute over how many people live in the city.

There is concern from the council that up to 16,000 people may not have been counted by the last census.

It has warned the difference means they could lose out on millions of pounds of funding.

The city is the second in the East Midlands to say it is suffering with Derby claiming a shortfall of 15,000 people.

It could cost the city council about �7m Councillor Alan Clarke

Two years ago Nottingham's population was estimated at nearly 283,000 people.

But last year's census puts that figure closer to 267,000.

A council report also says the census information does not match that on Nottingham's register of GPs or the number of young children at school.

It is now asking the government to clarify the way the census was compiled and may also campaign for the overall figure to be revised.

Hard hit

Councillor Alan Clarke told BBC Radio Nottingham the shortfall may have serious implications surrounding the amount of funding it gets from central government.

He said: "It could cost the city council about �7m. We could do a lot with that money for roads, pavements, social services and so on.

"We think cities like Manchester and Birmingham seem to have been hit, like Nottingham, particularly hard by these figures."