DUNFERMLINE has been hailed by its local MP and MSP after the announcement that it is to be awarded city status.
The Fife town was one of 39 in the running to win city status in a competition to mark the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. It was confirmed on Friday that it had succeeded.
Shirley Anne Sommerville MSP (below) said: “I am absolutely delighted that Dunfermline is to be awarded city status.
"This will be a real boost to the local community and particularly to our local businesses.
“We have such a proud history in Dunfermline and rightly so."
She added that this gives Dunfermline “a fantastic opportunity to tell our story locally, nationally and internationally,” paying tribute to everyone involved in the achievement for their hard work.
Dunfermline was the only Scottish town to be honoured as seven other places across the UK were upgraded from towns to cities.
Bangor in Northern Ireland, Colchester, Doncaster and Milton Keynes in England, and Wrexham in Wales were all honoured. Douglas in the Isle of Man and Stanley in the Falkland Islands also won.
Commenting on the achievement, Douglas Chapman MP said: “After years of championing Dunfermline’s case for formal city status, I’m delighted to see it’s now been awarded and now everyone connected with Dunfermline can genuinely say: ‘We are a city!’
“This is a huge victory for our wider area too, and for everyone who takes pride in Dunfermline’s rich history, culture and heritage.
“It also comes at an exciting time for West Fife, as our constituency continues to grow and evolve – and is fast becoming one of Scotland’s most significant areas for economic growth.
“I’m grateful to everyone involved in preparing Dunfermline’s city status bid and I know the submission was powerful and compelling. My personal thanks go to our councillors who backed the bid, and to everyone who supported it.
“This is an achievement beyond our wildest dreams and today we become Scotland’s eighth city and we can all feel as proud as a Dunfermline peacock.”
In Scotland Dumfries, Elgin, Greenock, Livingstone, Oban, St Andrews, and South Ayrshire missed out on the honour.
Previously, city status was given to Stirling in 2002 to commemorate the Golden Jubilee and Perth in 2012 to mark Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee.
