It is too early to tell what the financial benefits of St. George's being given a world historical site designation may be according to the town's mayor Henry Hayward.

Clearly pleased with the UNESCO decision to grant St. George's the accolade, Mr. Hayward said that the significance of the move at the moment is simple prestige.

"Gaining the designation doesn't bring any financial award with it,'' he said. "It's the prestige of it.'' But Mr. Hayward was optimistic that the move will generate business in the town in the long run and offer a much needed injection of capital into the area.

"It will be a gradual process,'' said Mr. Hayward, "but I'm sure in time it will bring additional visitors to us and that should translate into more business and finances for us.'' The Corporation of St. George's in recent years has revealed that it is strapped for cash and has made a special application to the Premier to allow it to collect wharfage from the airport.

In April former town Mayor Lois Perincheif warned that the town's lack of funds was so acute that plans to renovate Storekeeper's Cottage on Ordinance Island had been abandoned.

Businesses seeks to reap heritage benefits Ms Perinchief, desperate to find a solution to the financial woes, had also urged that anyone with "any feasible ideas and finance to back it up'' to contact either the Corporation or the East End Chamber of Commerce.

But Mr. Hayward yesterday said that plans to upgrade the town would continue and perhaps even speed up now that the designation has been made.

Mr. Hayward also revealed that strict legislation regulating the look of the town and the wider historical area would now have to be enforced.

"All the exterior is strictly controlled by legislation already,'' he said, "but it has not really been enforced.

"Everything from the placement of a tree or a sign to the colour of a building and the height, is covered in that legislation,'' he added.

He noted that in a bid to be able to maintain the town, skilled labourers would be trained in areas like the repair of wooden window and door frames and special plasters.

"We will offer this training in our new visitor centre and will encourage homeowners in the area to also attend,'' he said.

St. George's and its surrounding fortifications were amongst 61 new additions named to the list of the world's most precious natural and cultural sites by the United Nation's World Heritage Committee yesterday Hamlet's castle in Denmark, China's cradle of Taoism at Mount Qincheng, the Italian city of Verona, Azerbaijan's Walled City of Baku, Nicaragua's Ruins of Leon Viejo, the Central Suriname Nature Reserve, Kinabulu Park and Gunung Mulu National Park in Malaysia, the historic centre of Brugge, Belgium and France's Loire Valley were amongst the 61 new additions.

Also making the list was the Welsh mining town of Blaenavon which joined St.

George's application as the only two endorsed by the British government.

One of the gritty pit towns that helped drive Britain's 19th-century industrialisation, Blaenavon was home to the Big Pit colliery and a huge ironworks. The mine closed in 1980 and is now a museum, while the ironworks is being restored.

Blaenavon joins 18 other World Heritage Sites in Britain, including Hadrian's Wall, the city of Edinburgh, Stonehenge and the Tower of London.

The list now contains 691 sites in 122 countries, said a statement from the Paris-based United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

Some of the additions were said to have been selected as part of the committee's effort to improve the "geographical balance'' of the list.

UNESCO's World Heritage Committee began its 24th annual meeting on Monday in Cairns, Australia.