CANTEBURY is not on the shortlist for the European Capital of Culture title for 2008, it was revealed today.

Judges announced that Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff, Liverpool, Newcastle/Gateshead and Oxford are still in the running for the title.

Bids not making the list are Canterbury in East Kent, Brighton and Hove, Iverness and Highlands, Belfast, Bradford and Norwich.

Despite not being shortlisted those behind the Canterbury in East Kent bid say this is not the end of the Canterbury Culture campaign.

Many of the projects included in the bid submitted in April are already in development. A planned revamp of The Marlowe theatre will still go ahead and the Turner Centre in Margate will also still be built.

Janice McGuinness, Head of Leisure and Cultural Services at Canterbury City Council, said: “Of course we are disappointed but right from the outset we said that the real prize for Canterbury in East Kent was the process the bid would take us through.

“We knew at the start that we only had an outside chance of winning, but it gave us a once in a lifetime opportunity to create a realistic and ambitious vision for the future.

Bid steering group member Michael Buhkt said: “There’s already been huge benefits for the people of Canterbury and East Kent in the coming together that was needed to create the bid in the first place and we can go forward from there.”

Fellow steering group member Peter Williams, chairman of Canterbury Festival said: “There is a realisation that culture is at the cutting edge of regeneration of the area and that will not be lost.”

The Canterbury in East Kent bid had immense backing from the private as well as the public sector. Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has backed the bid from the beginning. Global research and development manager Vaila Marshall said: “It’s disappointing as this would have given great impetus to the many projects planned for the regeneration of East Kent.

“What we must do know is build on the enthusiasm and find ways to follow through on the many ideas already planned.”