YORK today missed out on being named Britain's cleanest city.

The city was among 11 finalists in the competition, from the 66 cities invited to enter the contest, sponsored by the British Cleaning Council. The winner was Westminster.

This year particular emphasis was placed on the "tourist's eye view" vital to York, but judges commented on the "uphill battle to persuade the public that clean cities are their responsibility, too".

Westminster was praised by chairman of the judging panel Peter Bird as "simply the best", particularly because of the extra challenge faced by the city through extraordinary events such as the Queen Mother's funeral and the Queen's Golden Jubilee celebrations.

The Lord Mayor of York, Coun David Horton, was in London today with civic dignitaries from all the short-listed cities, to receive a certificate of merit to mark the city's achievement in reaching the final.

Updated: 11:01 Tuesday, March 04, 2003