The three-month countdown is on to Dudley’s official submission for city status as part of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee celebrations next year.

And council bosses have issued a call to borough residents to help back the bid by revealing their favourite things about living in Dudley, so they can be included in the final submissions.

A new webpage has been launched giving detailed information about the bid, including frequently asked questions about the reasoning behind putting the borough forward. It also includes an email address for people to make contact with their favourite things about the borough. People can also use the taglines #CityofDudleyBid and #ACityInTheMaking to make their submissions on social media.

The deadline for submission of bids is December 8, with the winners announced next year. Councillor Patrick Harley, leader of the council, said:

"With three months to go, we are working hard behind the scenes to pull together the full details of the bid ahead of formal submission in December. We’d like to hear from residents about what they love about living here, to make sure we don’t miss anything out.

"We are tremendously proud of our borough and we have huge ambitions for our future. From our medieval Domesday book reference back in 1086, not to mention the millions of years of geological history, we have a past that most cities across the world could only dream of and of which we are very proud.

"But we’re also looking to forge a bright new future. We recognise there is work to do in that regard but we have a billion pound regeneration programme which is coming to life as we speak to change the landscape of this fantastic place with new developments our people can be proud of."

The bid comes after the Government announced a civic honours competition to mark 70 years of the Queen’s reign in 2022. Ministers are inviting bids for city and Lord Mayor (or Provost) status, with entries needing to be in by the start of December this year.

There are no set numbers for the amount of new cities that will be crowned, with it dependent on the strength of the entries received.