COUNCIL chiefs in Worcester have abandoned proposals for a City of Culture bid - and instead are turning to another way to bring in more tourists.

After months of deliberation the city council's Conservative leadership is ditching the idea of making a bid for the 2021 crown, with the costs cited as one of the reasons.

Your Worcester News can today reveal how instead, they want to pursue a bid for Worcester to become an official 'UK Heritage City' - a relatively new and novel status used as a marketing tool which costs nothing to apply for.

The Heritage City tag only launched in 2013 and is held by just 11 UK destinations including Bath, Chester, Durham, Oxford, Stratford, Cambridge and York.

The status involves close working with Visit England, particularly on increased marketing to USA tourists, something council chiefs in Worcester believe the city can hugely benefit from.

The council wants to make a bid in April 2016, the next time Visit England considers any new members.

But it means a City of Culture bid for 2021 is now off the agenda, with a new report recommending the council "ceases any direct work" on it.

In recent months talks were held with a range of business, sporting and cultural organisations to prepare a possible bid.

But the council says "there is a clear expectation" that around £10 million would need to be spent, across all the city's organisations, to create a cultural programme of events to realistically compete for or win the 2021 crown.

The preparation costs for other cities to compete for it in the past have ranged from £35,000 for stage one, and then up to £100,000 for stage two - excluding the cultural programmes needed to make it worth the effort.

Those costs - along with the fact Worcester was recently named one of the top 10 UK cities for heritage by national experts - has meant the new direction.

The move, which is being discussed by the Conservative cabinet next week, has led to new divisions between Worcester's two main political parties.

Councillor Lucy Hodgson, the cabinet member for history and heritage, said: "We've looked at lots of other areas - the start-up costs for Hull (the City of Culture for 2017) was £400,000, Coventry spent £260,000 preparing a bid and Leicester didn't win but still had a bill of £10 million.

"We just don't know what it would cost us - even if you don't win there is still an expectation that things will be carried forward (a rolling plan of cultural events).

"At this time, I think a bid for Heritage City status is what's best for Worcester."

She added: "Worcester’s historic legacy, particularly in connection to the Civil War, is very compelling. 

“We are confident that gaining Heritage City status is achievable for Worcester and would bring real lasting benefits to the city, raising its profile both nationally and internationally."

The move comes despite former Culture Secretary Sajid Javid urging Worcester to make a City of Culture bid earlier this year.

Councillor Adrian Gregson, opposition Labour group leader, said: "The enthusiasm about City of Culture was left to stagnate by the Conservative administration because it refused to give a lead or provide any ambition to the project.

"Despite constant badgering by me and others in the community, it is not surprising the effort has been abandoned."

An estimated £2 million is being spent over the next three years to improve Worcester's cultural offer.

The key areas of investment include positioning the Commandery at the heart of Worcester's heritage offer by focusing on its key role in the English Civil War (£260,000), the development of a visual and performing arts trail linking Worcester and the Droitwich Canal Ring and the ‘Worcestershire Remembers’ First World War activities and commemorations (£353,000).

WHAT IS HERITAGE CITY STATUS?

HERITAGE City launched in January 2013 in a bid for Visit England to identify Britain's best historic destinations for tourists coming in from around the world.

Securing the status is not easy, and depends on meeting at least four of five key categories - but Worcester can expect to achieve that.

One category is being outside of London, while another is having features like cathedrals, castles, assets which are important to English history and enough festivals or events with a heritage or cultural theme.

A third criteria is being able to take more tourists in while managing the environmental impact, while a fourth one is having at least three million tourist 'trips' per year - Worcester has 3.8 million now.

The only criteria Worcester is very unlikely to meet is the £150 million yearly tourist 'spend' - with the city at £99 million based on the last data from 2011.

The city council's Conservative cabinet is meeting next Tuesday to endorse a bid for April 2016, which would need to be prepared over the next three or four months and ready to go early next year.

If secured, the status can be pushed as heavily as a city wants - with the all-important backing of Visit England, particularly online.

* Want to see the city council cabinet report yourself? The full PDF is HERE.