City status will bring an added boost to the towns and village surrounding Wrexham

The news of Wrexham's new status has been welcomed not only in the urban area but out in the country and along the Shropshire border.

Now hopes are being pinned on the area also being named as the City of Culture for 2025.

Eight places were granted city status in Thursdays announcement, Bangor, Northern Ireland; Colchester, Doncaster, Douglas, the Isle of Man, Dunfermline, Scotland; Milton Keynes and Stanley in the Falkland Islands.

Wrexham councillor Terry Evans, who represents Chirk South, said: "It's absolutely amazing, fantastic news. The new status will give not only Wrexham itself but the surrounding towns and villages a real lift.

"It will help boost the economy and also, I am sure, bring more visitors to the area.

"While on a 'city break', visitors will want to come out and enjoy the wonderful attractions such as Chirk Castle and of course the World Heritage Site of the Llangollen Canal."

Councillor Evans said that Perth in Scotland, which was granted city status in 2012 as part of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, has seen its local economy expand by 12 per cent .

"We hope that will happen here," he said.

"To be named City of Culture as well would be the icing on the cake."

Clwyd South MP Simon Baynes said: “This is excellent news for the town of Wrexham, the wider county borough, and North Wales as a whole.

"Wrexham has, of course, made several bids for city status in the past, so I’m extremely happy to hear that we will be awarded full city status for the county borough.

“Wrexham and Clwyd South’s strong cultural identity, as well as its status as an industrial and commercial hub, mean that we are well placed to reap the benefits of city status, and I am particularly excited about the opportunity this gives us to celebrate the amazing history, language and culture of our part of Wales and share them with a wider audience.”

Chair of the Wrexham Business Professionals, Gill Kreft, said: "City status will give Wrexham a huge fillip and provide the recognition it deserves as the commercial capital of North Wales. It will undoubtedly help attract more inward investment and funding into the town and the surrounding area.

“It will also give us an enhanced reputation and status as well and raise awareness of what a great place this is and what a lot it has to offer. Wrexham has a lot going for it."

Wrexham Council will discuss how it moves forward to capitalise on the new status when it meets on May 25.