As the Queen celebrates her Diamond Jubilee in 2012, the UK will be getting a new city as part of the celebrations.
26 towns are competing to become a city, including Doncaster, Goole and Middlesbrough, and the winner will be announced in the next few weeks (a full list of the towns competing can be found here).
BBC 5 Live has decided to run its own competition, stating that size doesn’t matter. Running independently from the Queen’s competition, 5 Live have invited listeners to nominate the villages and towns that matter to them, and they have drawn up a shortlist which is as follows:
Bradford on Avon, Wiltshire, City A
Bungay, Suffolk, City B
Whitby, North Yorkshire, City C
Naturally Hello Yorkshire is somewhat biased towards the wonderful seaside town of Whitby (CITY C), famed for being the inspiration for Dracula, for its links with Captain James Cook, Whitby jet and Easter Sunday, but you can vote for any of the shortlist by texting CITY A, CITY B or CITY C (Whitby!!) to 85058 from 6am on Tuesday 17 January 2012 to 8am on Friday 20 January 2012 (texts charged at standard message rates but for a full list of terms and conditions, please see the BBC’s website here).
The winner will be announced on Friday, 20 January 2012 just before 9am and the Tony Livesey show will be presented from the victorious “city” to celebrate.
For further information about Whitby or for holiday accommodation, see here: Whitby tourist information, Whitby hotels, Whitby bed and breakfasts.