The country's most senior Law Lord has entered the race to become the Chancellor of Oxford University.

On putting his name forward Lord Bingham also declared his support for the government's proposal for top-up fees for universities.

The peer said he would rather see the controversial funding system in place than allow Oxford to "slide into mediocrity".

The post of Chancellor of Oxford, one of the most prestigious in academia, was made vacant by the death of Lord Jenkins of Hillhead last month.

Roy Jenkins died on 5 January, aged 82

In an interview with the BBC Radio 4's Today programme Lord Bingham said he would not retire as a Law Lord if elected.

"I think the really important thing is that the English universities, including of course Oxford, should maintain their quality and maintain their standing in the world.

"That clearly requires that they should be adequately funded, otherwise all the best facilities, all the best scholars will simply be found elsewhere, which I think would be a disaster for the country and not just for the university.

Money shortage

"The students are one obvious source of support because they are the beneficiaries of the system.

"And if you support the universities purely out of general taxation, then you meet the argument `Well, why should the people who don't go to university pay for those who are happy enough to do so?'.

"I would certainly prefer that there were top-up fees than that there should be a shortage of money and to slide into mediocrity," he said.

Lord Jenkins' former SDP colleague Baroness Shirley Williams had been tipped for the position but ruled herself out of the race because she disagreed with the notion of top-up fees.