THE Government was yesterday challenged to come clean on the rules for city status contests amid fears that one North-East town was wasting its time in last year's millennium competition.

Last month, Middlesbrough finally discovered it had failed in its bid to become a city to mark the year 2000, nine months after The Northern Echo correctly predicted that Wolverhampton and Brighton would be the winners.

The town will get another chance next year as part of a contest to mark the 50th anniversary of the Queen's accession to the throne.

But Home Office confidential documents for last year's millennium contest leaked to The Northern Echo revealed the existence of private criteria being used to assess bids, including a ''population threshold'' of 200,000.

A Home Office official pointed out that Middlesbrough was ''well below'' the threshold at 144,500.

And in a now famous geographical gaffe, the civil servant discounted the town's bid as it was only eight years since Sunderland "also on Teesside" had been made a city.

So Tory MP Simon Burns yesterday urged the Government to come clean on the criteria to be used next time round to prevent towns wasting their time.

There should be "far greater transparency" in the process and towns should be able to challenge "ludicrous" criteria, said Mr Burns, whose own town of Chelmsford lost out last year.

Home Office Minister Barbara Roche confirmed that a review of the city status procedures was now under way following last year's contest.

But she insisted there "never has been clear criteria applied to determining city status"