Dudley is bidding to become a city to help bring millions of pounds of extra investment into the borough, it was revealed today.

Council leader Les Jones said that he wanted to see the borough united as a city — in a decision made just 48 hours before the deadline closed.

The bid will be entered as part of a competition to mark the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee — and only one new city will be named.

Dudley, which has a population of more than 300,000, hopes to follow in the footsteps of Wolverhampton, which became a city in 2000.

It will be up against dozens of other hopeful towns and boroughs including Reading, Blackpool, Milton Keynes and Kilmarnock.

Councillor Jones said today: “Although there’s no straightforward advantage, there are lots of knock-on effects which I think are well worth pursuing. We have the biggest population of all the Black Country boroughs, and we have a lot to offer — all the things we talk about all the time, like the castle, the zoo and the museum.”

If successful, Dudley town centre would become the city centre due to the council house and courts already being situated there but Councillor Jones said he wanted to ensure each town kept its “individuality”.