PLANS to give Yorkshire's image a facelift have met with a frosty reception from Keighley councillors and tourism representatives.

In a joint effort by the Yorkshire Tourist Board and the regional development agency Yorkshire Forward, a £300,000 contract has been awarded to Out Reach, a Leeds-based consultancy, to rebrand Yorkshire, doing away with the cloth cap and whippet image.

Richard Gregory, deputy chairman of Yorkshire Forward, says a strong image is essential to promote a self-reliant, enterprising and positive region.

"Our region has many qualities and assets upon which we can build a great future for everyone who chooses to live, learn, work and invest here.

"Our challenge is to tell the world about them with confidence."

He adds: "Yorkshire and Humber are changing fast. Our people's skills, our universities, our natural landscapes, the fact that we are home to so many leading companies and the financial strength of Leeds are among the factors which give us our competitive advantage."

Reaction to the huge sum of money being spent on image-making has been less than enthusiastic in Keighley.

Cllr Barry Thorne, executive member for culture, heritage and leisure, says the area needs more of an updating rather than rebranding. He says: "I think it needs reinvesting because you can always reinvent things.

"We've got loads of things that have changed in Yorkshire, obviously, and obviously we need to target these different markets.

"People are going for long weekends and shorter breaks. There's a lot more of these. Those are the sort of things we need to look at."

Cllr Thorne says he will insist that local attractions are not overlooked in the county-wide reassessment.

He says: "I will be making that representation quite strongly, don't you worry about that."

Jackie Cope, chairman of the Keighley and Haworth tourism management group, says she is concerned that the area's traditional attractions may be jeopardised in the rush to reinvent the county.

She says: "I can see where, if they are trying to attract a new audience, there might be room to do this, but they don't want to throw away the baby with the bath water."

She adds that she hopes the traditional Yorkshire attractions are not "thrown away in an effort to make it more attractive to the younger generation."

She concludes: "It's a matter of getting a cross section, not going one side or the other. People of all ages come to Yorkshire."

Local MP Ann Cryer, says a rebranding exercise is unnecessary. She says: "I think we're doing very well on the tourist front and I'm always a little bit wary of image consultants. I think we have our own image and I don't think that we need image consultants to project it.

"I'm not sure Yorkshire needs rebranding. I think we have a wonderful image throughout England and Europe. It's just a question of reminding people not rejigging everything. Next time they want someone to blow their trumpet send them to me and I won't charge a penny. I'll do it with pleasure.

Conservative ward councillor Kris Hopkins, says: "This is an extremely proud county with its own heritage and this is another piece of New Labour spin to regenerate and get rid of the old and re-market something as the new and modern.

The newly branded county will be launched at the Yorkshire International Business Convention in June, following widespread market research in the UK and overseas.

David Andrews, Yorkshire Tourist Board chairman, says: "YTB is working closely with Yorkshire Forward to develop a generic brand which will compliment the work we've already done in London and the south-east to challenge people's perceptions of Yorkshire and Humber.

"The advertising campaign aimed to reposition the Yorkshire brand to appeal to younger markets, while not losing its original identity."

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