READING could have a chance to be awarded city status in a new competition run by the Queen despite having failed to reach city status countless times.
The town has been rejected more than three times despite it being one of the largest towns in the south east geographically.
It has everything a city would have: a large shopping centre, a university and a championship football club.
It has plenty of places to eat, nightclubs and even the train station has been put on the London tube map.
The population is pretty dense too, with more people living in Reading than the population of St Davids in Wales (the smallest city in Britain - population 1,600).
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Because of these factors, many people have often mistakenly called it a city- much to some people's annoyance.
But just how many times has Reading been called a city?
Earlier this year, Ant and Dec put Reading on the map but for the wrong reasons.
On their episode of Saturday Night Takeaway, the TV co-stars asked the audience a question about the Banksy mural on the wall of Reading prison.
In the show they said: "Which city did Banksy graffiti a prison?' which may have hit a nerve with some Reading residents who live in a 'town'.
Reading has countless times been called a city in studies carried out by data companies too.
Reading has been named as the seventh best town in the UK to start a business, but in the release it was called a city.
Tripadvisor questions has also a whole forum dedicated to people asking quesitons about why Reading referred to as a city.
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The user at the time posted: "Why do people refer to Reading as a city? Isn't it just a big town? I thought that to qualify as a city there had to be a cathedral. Maybe its a case of the locals thinking if they say it enough then it will be so!"
To which a user responded: "Isn't it a city? Well I never knew, it's certainly quite big. Lived there for a short while and really liked it!"
The town can only become a city if The Queen grants it a Royal Charter in one of her Letters Patent.
Even if that does happen, there are no official benefits that come with being a city.
There will be no extra money or powers for the council if it is successful, as the title is only honorific.
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