Yorkshire cities feature in guide

Many of the city reviews in the guide point to urban renewal

From an image of one city portrayed as "a strutting John Travolta" to a dour sea port the latest Lonely Planet guide paints a vivid picture of Yorkshire.

The authors said Leeds "struts across the urban stage, oozing confidence", while Hull is seen as "curmudgeonly and hard bitten" - a view the city rejects.

In North Yorkshire the authors said York had its "rich heritage woven into virtually every brick".

Sheffield shows its mettle - "grabbing opportunities with both hands".

While the cities of Leeds, York and Sheffield are all given a vote of confidence in the seventh edition of the travellers' guide, the port of Hull fares less happily.

The authors describe the port as "a curmudgeonly English sea port with a proud seafaring tradition, a hard-bitten attitude to all things in life and an almost lunatic nightlife - surely its only concession to any kind of indulgence".

But the leader of Hull City Council, Carl Minns, flatly rejected the entry as "out of touch with the real Hull".

He said: "It's an old-fashioned view of Hull, some of the things I recognise - tough and uncompromising - but I don't recognise the comment about a lunatic nightlife.

"The city is changing and coming into the 21st Century. I'd like to invite the editors to come to Hull and see the sights for themselves."

York's streets are steeped in history, said the Lonely Planet Guide

The guide said Leeds "struts across England's urban stage like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever, oozing the confidence that befits the favourite child of the New Urban Revolution.

"Leeds is the "Knightsbridge of the North", the shopping Mecca whose counter is just getting longer.... from cutting edge couture to contemporary cuisine Leeds will serve it to you on a plate or in a stylish designer bag."

Twenty miles away the historic city of York is still a magnet for holiday-makers and day trippers.

The guide said: "The city's long history and rich heritage is woven into virtually every brick and beam.

"Modern tourist-orientated York - with its myriad museums, restaurants, cafes and traditional pubs - is a carefully maintained heir to that heritage."

And South Yorkshire's post-industrial resurgence has consigned the "dark satanic mills to history's dustbin...but the hulking remainders of the irrepressible Victorian age remain...some of which have been turned into enthralling museums of the past".