The five sites - including one in Yorkshire - that could become UNESCO World Heritage

And five new sites from across the UK and Overseas Territories have been added to the Government’s Tentative List to be considered for UNESCO World Heritage Site Status.

If successful, the five new sites, which include York city centre, will join the likes of Stonehenge, Saltaire and Westminster Abbey as part of the globally recognised group.

Birkenhead Park and an iron age settlement in Scotland could be in the running to join the prestigious list.

Unesco’s World Heritage site system offers the opportunity for cultural and natural heritage sites to gain international recognition and promote themselves on a global stage.

On Monday the DCMS revealed the seven places to be placed on its “Tentative List”, published around every 10 years, which sets out the sites it is felt have the best chance of succeeding in being included.

Birkenhead Park, which opened in 1847, was a pioneering project to bring greenery to urban environments.

The site provided a blueprint for municipal planning that has influenced town and city parks across the world, including New York’s Central Park.

The Zenith of Iron Age Shetland, a collection of three ancient settlements dating back thousands of years, has also been placed onto the Tentative List.

Places of natural significance recommended for consideration by the DCMS include the East Atlantic Flyway, a migratory bird route over western parts of Europe including Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex and Kent.

It joins the list in recognition of its vital importance to bird populations and wildlife as an area that sees huge transient bird populations pass through every year.

The Little Cayman Marine Parks and Protected Areas, situated in the UK overseas territory of the Cayman Islands, have also been put forward for their exceptional importance to marine biodiversity and their incredible natural beauty.

The five sites join two more that submitted their full nominations to Unesco earlier this year, and remain on the Government’s Tentative List.

They are The Flow Country, a large area of peatland across Caithness and Sutherland in the north of Scotland which plays a crucial role in supporting biodiversity, and the Gracehill Moravian Church Settlement in Northern Ireland.

If successful, the seven sites would join the 33 other World Heritage sites already based in the UK including Stonehenge and Hadrian’s Wall.

Laura Davies, HM Ambassador to Unesco, said: “It is great that the UK is contributing to making World Heritage more representative.

“These five sites brilliantly reflect the diversity and beauty of the UK and its overseas territories’ natural and cultural heritage, and I look forward to working with them towards World Heritage listing.”