YET again York is nowhere to be seen in the top 20 rankings of Britain's most vital urban shopping centres.

If anything, the ancient English capital is falling behind as the latest Experian Retail Rankings puts the city 26th - two places worse than it was last year.

Top business leaders in York today blamed a six-year blight caused by the long planning process of the controversial and recently rejected proposals for the Ouse-side extension of Coppergate.

Leeds is fourth behind London's West End - the regular retail kingpin - then Glasgow and Birmingham. And York trails its rival historic city, Chester, which is ranked eleventh.

A spokesman for Experian, the financial information company, said that had York's Coppergate Centre proposals been accepted the city would "definitely have risen sharply up the vitality ranks" as had Birmingham which leapt ten places into third position because of its £500 million investment in the new BullRing.

The assessments were made purely on the basis of urban shopping centres and not out-of town developments such as the McArthurGlen designer outlet complex in Fulford, Monks Cross Shopping Park in Huntington or the Clifton Moor shopping centre.

It was the outcome of physical surveys of more than 1,100 separate shopping locations and more than a third of a million UK shops.

York, as elsewhere, was gauged on the basis of the number of multiple stores it attracts, independent quality shops and the total amount of retail floorspace as a percentage of the size of the city centre. Vacant shops in the city centre were also taken into account.

But staunch Coppergate plan opponent Adam Sinclair, chairman of the York Chamber of Trade and owner of York's famous Mulberry Hall glassware store, blamed "the Coppergate process" for York suffering inertia. "The plan had just about every retail agent over the last six years saying to retail investors: 'Hang on, don't consider York just yet... the gravity of the footfall in the city may shift because of Coppergate.'

"Now, at last, we have the opportunity to allow retail investors to come to York with certainty," he said, citing the arrival of leading European fashion chain New Look in Blake Street, and H & M and Zara stores about to occupy units in Spurriergate.

"So far from Coppergate helping the vitality of York it has been blighting it."

Len Cruddas, chief excutive of the more than 700-member York and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce agreed the Coppergate controversy had blighted investment.

"The Piccadilly area, crying out for redevelopment has been put on hold," he said.

Mr Cruddas said it was wrong to gauge the vital shopping experience purely on retail floorspace in York which offered shoppers a "heritage built environment".

But there were words of comfort from Martin Davies, director of Experian's retail planning.

"This isn't like the music charts. Moving down two places isn't a significant issue. It is more like a football division in which York remains mid-table."

The UK's top twenty places to shop

1 West End, Greater London

2 Glasgow

3 Birmingham

4 Leeds

5 Nottingham

6 Manchester

7 Southampton

8 Cardiff

9 Norwich

10 Bluewater, South East

11 Chester

12 Reading

13 Liverpool

14 Newcastle upon Tyne

15 Leicester

16 Edinburgh

17 Kingston upon Thames

18 Brighton

19 Merry Hill, West Midlands

20 Meadowhall, South Yorkshire

...26 York

Updated: 10:13 Wednesday, March 03, 2004