Worcester web war declared?

9:00am Monday 11th August 2008

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MORE than 350 years after conflict last engulfed the Faithful City a new battle of Worcester has erupted on the world wide web.

American users of the internet-based encyclopaedia Wikipedia are attempting to claim the name of Worcester as their own.

A growing campaign on the site, which is edited by its users and attracts 684 million users a year, calls for Worcester in the state of Massachusetts (MA), to be recognised as the world’s pre-eminent city of that name.

But Lucy Hodgson, Worcester’s mayor, believes the historical significance of her city settles all arguments.

She said: “Worcester in Massachusetts goes back a long time in United States history but we go back further, to 1189.

“As far as history is concerned we’re first but we share a common bond and while I agree we should be first, Worcester Massachusetts should not be far behind.”

Currently, anyone searching for ‘Worcester’ on Wikipedia is directed to an article about the Faithful City with what is known as a ‘dab link’ to direct readers to a piece about the United States city.

However, many users stateside believe because Worcester, MA, is larger and as its encyclopaedia entry attracts more than 16,900 readers – compared with about 12,000 for the UK article – the situation should be reversed.

One website editor, who calls himself Raime, wrote: “Given that Worcester, MA has about 5,000 more readers than Worcester, UK, it is fairly clear that a vast majority of readers are in fact not seeking the city in Worcestershire.”

However, other editors have sprung to the defence of the Faithful City.

Joshii stated: “If Worcester, MA, was the capital of the state then I would agree to a move but it is just a city with no special status.”

The county town of Worcestershire is favoured by the history books. It became a city in 1621, a half-century before the American settlement was even founded.

Richard Lockett, of Worcester Civic Society, said: “I think it’s a close run thing.

“But when you’re looking up Worcester on the internet you should come to the first place to have the name.”

Despite the online row, cultural ties between the two cities are close with the United States city mayor Konstantina Lukes recently issuing a civic proclamation that August should now be Celebrate Worcester Month to strengthen twinning and friendship.

The proclamation is to be personally delivered to Coun Hodgson by All Saints Church choir, currently on a UK tour and who were singing alongside Worcester Cathedral’s choir as part of the Three Choirs Festival this week.