A shortlist of UK sites deemed worthy of ranking alongside the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China and the Grand Canyon as a World Heritage site has been published.

But none of North Yorkshire's splendours has been included among nominations put forward by Culture Secretary Chris Smith today.

The Lake District, the Forth Rail Bridge, parts of Manchester and even sections of the Paddington to Bristol railway are among the 25 candidates which will be considered for the accolade in the next five to 10 years. But the city walls of York, the impressive majesty of the Minster and historic of Whitby Abbey are just some of North Yorkshire's jewels that have been overlooked.

Mr Smith's list focuses on natural sites and industrial heritage in a bid to move away from palaces, castles and historic towns like York.

To meet UN standards, they must be of "outstanding universal value."

The group will now look at the nominated sites to see if they are suitable to be added to 17 UK sites already listed, which include Studley Hall and Fountains Abbey.

Mr Smith's list follows a massive consultation exercise with more than 500 authorities and individuals contacted.

Today Mr Smith said: "The list contains sites which we believe will fully meet Unesco's very stringent criteria, and are the types of sites which are generally under-represented on the current World Heritage list.

"I know that those who have pressed for other sites not included today will be disappointed, but this is an ongoing selection process and we must always take account of Unesco's very stringent standards."

Gillian Cruddas, chief executive of York Tourism Bureau, said: "I feel it is very disappointing.

"Anything to do with World Heritage site status gets an awful lot of publicity, not just in this country but overseas, and we are missing out on that."

She said that hopes that York would be included hinged largely on the fact that 2,000 years of history was clearly in evidence in the city.

see COMMENT 'Heritage snub is a nonsense'

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.