Hull has been recognised for the safety, quality and diversity of its city centre evening economy with the award of a Purple Flag.

The Association of Town Centre Management (ATCM) confirmed the award  after assessing their findings from an inspection of the city centre conducted during the Freedom Festival weekend.

Hull is only the third Purple Flag recipient in Yorkshire, emulating the success of Halifax and Sheffield.

The full ATCM report praises the partnership efforts of the various organisations who worked jointly to secure the accreditation, including HullBID, Humberside Police, Hull City Council, Hull Citysafe and the Primary Care Trust.

Private businesses are recognised for the part they play in creating an evening economy which is described as “vibrant” and “varied” in terms of food and dining, pubs and bars, late-night bars and nightclubs and art and culture.

Kathryn Shillito, HullBID City Centre Manager, said: “We know from the efforts put in by our own partnership and by talking to other towns and cities that it takes an enormous amount of hard work to achieve a Purple Flag award.

“The fact that Hull has succeeded reflects credit on everyone who has supported our campaign, from the various organisations that have driven the application to the individual businesses who have worked together to bring the improvements to our city centre.

“The fact that those improvements have now been recognised officially, by inspectors from outside the city, as being worthy of an accreditation shared by only 32 other towns and cities shows how far we have come. The challenge now is to use our Purple Flag to let people know why the assessors rated Hull so highly, and to make sure we keep on improving.”

The Purple Flag branding is available for all Hull businesses to use on promotional literature. For branding information please contact Jennifer Marshall on 01482 611802 or via e-mail jennifer@hullbid.co.uk.