BLACKBURN with Darwen has only an outside chance of being granted city status before the millennium, according to bookmakers, who have started taking bets on which town will be named Britain's new city.

Bookies William Hill have placed Blackburn's bid 26th after facing the difficult task of drawing up odds without knowing what factors will be taken into account.

Three southern towns - Guildford, Reading and Milton Keynes - have been named as front-runners to be named as a city, with the odds on Blackburn clinching the honour rated at 33-1.

But Blackburn with Darwen council leader Malcolm Doherty remained optimistic about the borough's chances and said the odds probably reflected his belief that more southerners were likely to place bets on the issue than Lancastrians. William Hill have rated Blackburn's chances below those of Bolton, Preston and Warrington, and have given the borough the same odds as Blackpool and Stockport.

Asked if he was prepared to put a wager on Blackburn becoming a city, Coun Doherty said: "I won't be placing a bet. This is far too serious an issue to be messing about placing bets on."

He added: "The odds are probably as they are because people up here have more sense than to bet on things which are as difficult to predict as this." William Hill spokesman Graham Sharpe, said that fixing the odds had been extremely difficult because the Home Office refused to say how the winner would be selected. He said: "We took into consideration the geographical location, reputation, industry and the culture of areas. We believe that English towns are more likely to win this year. Towns in the North East will probably not have as good a chance this time, as the last place to be granted city status was Sunderland in 1994."

Guildford is the bookies' favourite to become the first new city of the millennium. The Surrey town, like Blackburn, has its own cathedral, and its chances have been rated at 10-1.

Blackburn is one of 39 areas in the United Kingdom to apply for the coveted title, which will be awarded by the Queen later this year.

How the bookies rate them:

10-1: Guildford

12-1: Reading.

14-1: Milton Keynes.

16-1: Shrewsbury, Brighton, Chelmsford, Newport (Wales), Wrexham, Maidstone, Swindon.

20-1: Preston, Wolverhampton, Stirling, Ballymena (N Ireland), Lisburn (N Ireland), Colchester, Northampton.

25-1: Bolton, Warrington, Telford, Ayr, Newtown (Wales), Croydon.

28-1: Ipswich, Medway (Kent)

33-1: Blackburn, Blackpool, Stockport, Inverness, Paisley, Aberystwyth, Doncaster, Luton, Middlesbrough.

50-1: Machynlleth and Saint Asaph (both Wales).

(odds supplied by William Hill)

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