Bronte country and Haworth village are hoping to be granted highly-prized world heritage status.

World Heritage Sites are chosen for their outstanding universal value to culture, history or science.

The Bronte Landscape and Haworth village is one of 38 nominations from across the country.

An independent expert panel will now be set up to assess each bid and advise ministers on which should be included in a shortlist submitted to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) next year.

Keighley and Ilkley Conservative MP Kris Hopkins said: “I am delighted that Bronte Landscape and Haworth Village have been put forward for consideration and, as far as I’m concerned, they are in a league of their own.

“The literacy legacy left by the Brontes is the source of immense local pride as well as fascination for people across the world, many of whom travel to Bronte Country to experience the wildness and the wonders of the moors. Needless to say the bid has my absolute support.”

Earlier this year Government invited councils and others to bid. Sites winning through will join the Taj Mahal, the Great Wall of China, Statue of Liberty and more than 800 other sites on UNESCO’s list of the world’s most important historical sites.

Announcing the bidders, Tourism and Heritage Minister John Penrose said: “The UK’s heritage is world-class and this list represents the unique variety and history present in all corners of this country and our overseas territories.

“We wanted a strong and varied list to eventually put to UNESCO and I’m delighted that so many wonderful, diverse places have been put forward.

“Any list that includes Jodrell Bank, the Forth Bridge, Blackpool and the Turks and Caicos Islands certainly doesn’t lack variety. But what all 38 sites have in common is a wow factor and a cultural resonance that makes them real contenders to sit alongside the Pyramids and Red Square in this most distinguished of gatherings.”

The selection process can take between five and ten years.

After the bid is submitted to UNESCO by the UK Government, it will then be assessed by the International Council on Monuments and Sites and the World Conservation Union.

If successful, the application is then judged by the World Heritage Committee, which meets once a year to decide which sites will be inscribed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.

West Yorkshire already boasts Saltaire as a World Heritage Site.