Cornwall's hopes of become the UK City of Culture 2025 have fallen at the final hurdle after it failed to make the shortlist.

The finalists were whittled down from a record 20 initial bids to eight 'longlist' applications, with Cornwall among them.

However, it has been announced this evening that the Duchy has not made the final four, which are Bradford, County Durham, Southampton and Wrexham County Borough.

The four locations were approved by Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries based on independent advice made to the government by a panel of experts, led by TV producer and screenwriter Sir Phil Redmond.

The benefits of winning the prestigious title would have included attracting millions of pounds in additional investment to help boost regeneration, a year in the spotlight with hundreds of events encouraging participation in the arts, and growth for local tourism.

Coventry, the UK's City of Culture 2021, saw more than £172 million invested in funding music concerts, public art displays, the UK’s first permanent immersive digital art gallery, a new children’s play area in the centre of the city, the new Telegraph Hotel and improvements to public transport.

However, Cornwall did receive a £40,000 grant to develop its application, which was scrutinised by the expert advisory panel against published criteria.

It will now receive detailed feedback on the bid, as well as further support from government ministers and officials on how best it can maintain momentum and realise their ambitions in the future.

Arts Minister Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay praised the quality of Cornwall’s bid, saying: “Cornwall has a rich cultural heritage and a thriving and diverse arts scene, so it was brilliant to see it longlisted for UK City of Culture 2025.

"I’m hugely grateful for all the hard work that went into the process and I hope people across Cornwall will see the huge benefits of taking part in this extremely competitive process.”

And the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), which led the bid, said it would still be investing £1 million in developing Cornwall’s cultural and creative industries.

LEP Chief Executive Glenn Caplin-Grey said: “We’re disappointed of course but getting as far as we did is a huge vote of confidence in the quality and value of Cornwall’s cultural and creative sector, and the very act of bidding has allowed us to showcase some of the brilliant things that are happening in Cornwall and to plan for the future.

“What we’ve shown is that Cornwall is a UK powerhouse when it comes to creative industries and that the sector can be a real catalyst for economic growth. That’s why we are pressing ahead with our £1m investment programme, and we will be working closely with the sector to develop that.

“I’d just like to thank all our cultural and creative industries, local communities, businesses and all our MPs who rallied around our bid and played a vital role in getting as far as we did. There is a real opportunity to build on the work we have done and continue to use culture to celebrate all that makes Cornwall great, challenge perceptions and grow our economy.”

Cornwall had put together a detailed bid, explaining how it would use culture to grow and strengthen the local area, as well recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The bid, Cornwall 2025 – Leading from the Edge, focused on a call to action to address the climate emergency by using culture and creativity to connect communities across Cornwall with audiences around the world, on the themes of People, Place and Planet.

With millions of Cornish people now living in America, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, Cornwall had pitched a ‘Global Britain’ year-long celebration designed to inspire and explore global issues, from plastic pollution to climate change.

And it wanted to forge new creative connections across the four nations of the UK, tapping into a rich seam of Celtic heritage.

Hand-in-hand with that, the bid had wanted to change perceptions of Cornwall, which attracts over four million visitors a year.

The natural beauty that has inspired so much of Cornwall’s celebrated culture and creativity continues to mask deep-rooted deprivation, in what remains one of the poorest parts of England, where a third of employees earn below the real living wage, the bid had said.

The winning city will be announced by the Culture Secretary in May.