At a meeting of the full Ashby Town Council last night (20 July), councillors discussed the town's unsuccessful Town of Culture bid.

Earlier this year, Ashby Town Council submitted a bid to be the UK's first Town of Culture, saying it was an 'excellent opportunity for our town to showcase everything it has to offer.'

However, at this week's full council meeting, councillors discussed the news that the bid had been unsuccessful.

'It's disappointing but the process was helpful,' said Cllr Chris Smith.

'As much as we weren't successful this time, there will be other years and future bids,' said Ashby Mayor Murrae Blair-Park.

The response from the UK Town of Culture Chair said: 'Unfortunately, on this occasion, your application has not been selected for the shortlist. This was an extremely difficult decision to make, as we received 398 applications and the panel selected 15 for the shortlist.'

Ashby Town Council agreed to contact the Town of Culture Committee to ask for additional feedback to help to improve future bids.