Milton Keynes is jewel in Platinum Jubilee crown

Eight towns receive city status to mark the Queen’s reign, including the first in an overseas territory

IT IS often derided as a charmless, grey sprawl, known for its proliferation of roundabouts and concrete cows. But Milton Keynes has now been granted city status after Platinum Jubilee judges were won over by its kerbside recycling and waste treatment facility.

The Buckinghamshire commuter town is one of a record eight locations awarded the status in a competition designed to showcase “the best of Britain and the overseas territories” and act as a lasting legacy of the jubilee.

Applicants were required to demonstrate a distinct local identity as well as highlighting their royal associations and cultural heritage.

Milton Keynes was designed in the Seventies, a low-rise, low-density town with a unique grid of roads.

Judges were impressed with its claim to be “the pinnacle of the national postwar planning movement” and its extensive cultural infrastructure.

Its bid also noted that it was the first place to introduce kerbside recycling in the UK, in the 1990s, and is home to many robotic delivery vehicles.

Other winners include Stanley on the Falkland Islands – the first town in an overseas territory to win city status – and Douglas, which has become the first and only city on the Isle of Man.

Doncaster, in South Yorkshire, triumphed following the community spirit demonstrated during the 2019 floods, while Wrexham in North Wales impressed judges with its growing retail industry and its claim to the third oldest football club in the UK.

Bangor in Northern Ireland was granted city status after highlighting a 1961 visit by the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh, while Colchester in Essex and Dunfermline in Scotland were also elevated by the Cabinet Office.

Steve Barclay, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, said: “What was clear to me during the process of assessing each application was the pride that people felt for their communities, local cultural heritage and the Royal family.

“As we celebrate the Queen’s colossal contribution to society, I am thrilled that we are able to recognise some of the many places that make Britain great.”

Being granted city status can provide a boost to local communities and open up new opportunities for people who live there, as has been the case with previous winners such as Perth and Preston, according to the Cabinet Office.

Almost 40 locations bid for the right to become a city, including Gibraltar and George Town, the capital of the Cayman Islands, after British overseas territories and crown dependencies became eligible for the first time.

Applications were evaluated by a panel of experts and Cabinet Office ministers, before a recommendation was put to the Queen.

Letters Patent will now be prepared to formally confer each of the awards and will be presented to winners later this year.