A council is forging ahead with its bid to achieve city status despite criticism levelled from councillors and residents.

Medway Council is in the process of applying to become a city for a fourth time with winning bids to be announced as part of the Queen's Platinum Jubilee celebrations next year.

The authority sees the move – which would place Chatham at its heart – as a means to boost the local economy, attract more business and bolster its public image.

Across the Thames, Southend in Essex was awarded city status this week in honour of murdered MP David Amess who was a long-term advocate of its benefits.

The award is being made separate to the already underway application process, The Cabinet Office has confirmed.

Medway's bid is expected to focus on celebrating the Towns' naval history, its universities, links to Charles Dickens and attractions including Chatham Historic Dockyard and Rochester Castle and Cathedral.

As the largest conurbation in the south east, outside of London, with a growing population of around 280,000, the district is already a "city in all but name" says council leader Alan Jarrett.

The top Tory said: "It is our intention to seek city status when that opportunity arises because we are a city-scale place.

"It will bring further recognition and there will be intangible benefits to Medway in the future and that's why we are bidding."

He listed the ability to attract more businesses, secure further investment and draw in more tourism as just some of the "intangible" benefits it would bring.

"It is all about making the area even more well known than it is today," Cllr Jarrett explained.

"That's really important when it comes to dealing with decision makers, whether they be a small or large company looking to invest in Medway.

"Names are very important for branding and marketing purposes. We are talking about intangibles, you can't quantify this in terms of financial benefit."

But not everyone is as enthusiastic about backing the bid with some councillors expressing their reservations at an overview and scrutiny committee held last week.

Separately, the council found out they had not made the long list of places being considered for the City of Culture in 2025.

Cllr Rupert Turpin (Con) told the meeting he would be interested to know the cost of the City status bid, adding: "I've got no interest in becoming a city, I'm not violently against it but I have got zero enthusiasm because I lived in London with smoky, cramped accommodation and I just don't rate the quality of life in cities.

"If we are putting up loads of tower blocks and think that's going to make us a city, then it's going to be very uncomfortable living for lots of people."

He also said he thought Medway was in a weakened position not having its own university; Kent, Canterbury Christ Church, and Greenwich, all have campuses in Chatham but their main bases are elsewhere.

But Cllr Jarrett said he had not been made aware of any concerns personally and says the bid has attracted cross-party support.

Asked whether becoming a city might lead to accelerated urbanisation, he rejected the idea, adding: "The increased urbanisation of the area is entirely a factor of the government's housing targets.

"The government have imposed housing targets on us, over 27,000 between now and 2037. That is nothing to do with the city scale of Medway at all."

Since becoming a unitary authority – bringing Strood, Rochester, Chatham, Gillingham and Rainham together under one roof – he said they had amassed huge improvements they could not have achieved whilst fragmented.

"We have demonstrated that we are city scale," Cllr Jarrett said. "We can draw down hundreds of millions of pounds of government grants that a small district council wouldn't be able to.

"The size and scale of the place speaks for itself basically."

He added: "City status would be thoroughly deserved because we are as big as Brighton City. Why wouldn't we want to officially be called a city?"

But some residents remain unconvinced and many in Rochester still feel aggrieved over its own loss of city status due to an "administrative incident".

Now part of Medway, the town had previously held the rank of the county's second cathedral city but lost this status in 1998 after failing to renew its charter under the previous Labour administration – a move which drew criticism from Conservative colleagues.

This included Cllr Jarrett, who said: "The reason Rochester lost its city status was because that was a concious decision taken by the then Labour administration.

"They decided not to renew the charter status, that is why Rochester lost its city status, nothing directly to do with the unitary authority at all."

There are currently 69 cities across the UK with Canterbury the only city in Kent.

Councils have until December 8 to bid for city status.

Rival bids include Swindon, Reading, Dudley, Milton Keynes, Boston and Dorchester.

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