City has chance to improve its image

A guide which branded Wolverhampton one of the five worst cities in the world is sending a travel expert to take a new look at what it has to offer, bosses said today.

An undercover reporter will visit within the next six weeks to decide whether the city is impressive enough to appear in the Lonely Planet's guide to Britain next year.

The tourist bible caused a storm last year when author Vivek Wagle compared Wolverhampton to post 9/11 New York in an online article.

Only smog-chocked Los Angeles, crumbling Detroit, overcrowded Seoul in South Korea and impoverished Accra in Ghana were considered worse.

Lonely Planet spokeswoman Angela Wilkinson said: "A writer is on the road now and will be visiting Wolverhampton as part of his research for the 2011 guide to Britain."

Celebrities including Steve Bull, Suzi Perry and Beverley Knight all jumped to the defence of the city after the article was reported in media around the world.