STEPS have been taken to protect Carlisle's city status after local government reorganisation.

Fears have been raised that Carlisle could lose its ceremonial mayor and status as a city after the UK Government reforms how Cumbria is governed.

Carlisle's Ancient Proclamation is traditionally read by the town clerk, or chief executive, to the First Citizen, or mayor, declaring city status and the right to hold an annual fair in August.

The UK Government's plans to reorganise how the county is run will see Carlisle governed with Allerdale and Copeland under one unitary authority, Cumberland Council by 2023.

And the Structural Change Order, which gives Westminster the authority to make the changes is currently being passed through Parliament.

But as LGR is designed to reduce the number of organisations and paid roles in Local Government, the document does not include a chief executive for Carlisle, which will no longer be a Local Authority area.

Without a chief executive to read the Proclamation, Carlisle's city status could have been threatened so the city council has moved to protect it.

Deputy leader of the council Gareth Ellis said: "That can be done by somebody else, the important thing is that we put in place a series of chartered citizens.

"That allows the city status to be protected, it allows the mayoralty to be protected. It's up to the shadow authority to decide how they go from there.

An administrative error in 1998 saw Rochester lose its city status when Gillingham and Rochester-upon-Medway were merged into one unitary authority.

Mayor of Carlisle Pamela Birks said that it is important to protect its city status.

"City status actually gets us slightly more money that's how the Borderlands has gone ahead because of our city status."

Carlisle's historic Citadel buildings are set to be redeveloped into a new University of Cumbria campus thanks to £50 million from the Borderlands Growth Deal.

The charter declaring Carlisle a city was first granted in 1158 and in 1353 the city was given the right to a "free guild and a free election of their mayorals and bailiffs."