There is no evidence for this, says John Beckett of the University of Nottingham, who has written a book on city status.

ECONOMIST: Two peculiar candidates for city status

Mohammed, Special Advisor to the United Nations Secretary-General on Post-2015 Development Planning and Assistant Secretary-General, and Professor W. John Morgan, UNESCO Chair at the University of Nottingham.

UNESCO: UK National Commission for UNESCO - Rethinking Education: Towards a global common good? Former UKNC Chair co-authors new UNESCO report

The Home Office minister John Denham had already announced a routine inspection of the Nottingham City force in January.

BBC: Inquiry ordered over police manpower