MACCLESFIELD has been snubbed by the new Lonely Planet Guide to Great Britain.

The town and most of the Cheshire plain, including Wilmslow and the surrounding villages, are not even mentioned in the eighth edition of the popular tourism guide book.

The whole county is covered in just four pages – with all but two paragraphs of those devoted to Chester itself.

Along with the handsome market town, famous for its silk heritage, the stylish shops, restaurants and country house hotels of Alderley Edge and Knutsford are not considered tourism draws.

The distinctive landmark Jodrell Bank radio telescope, one of the world’s leading space observatories, historic Tatton Park and the giant waterwheel at Quarry Bank Mill are also overlooked.

The paragraph covering Cheshire describes it as ‘genteel’ and ‘pastoral’ with half-timbered Tudor farmhouses and fields of Friesian cows.

It asks why the soccerati millionaires, such as Prestbury’s Wayne Rooney, choose to live in the county, and concludes ‘Cheshire is just really about Chester’.

Councillor Thelma Jackson, Macclesfield’s town mayor, said: "That is totally wrong. The people who are saying that obviously do not know the first thing about Macclesfield and Cheshire.

"It has so much to offer, particularly Macclesfield where we have the remnants of the silk industry, the museum and heritage centre.

"There are a lot of tourists who come here because it is so typically English. There are parts of Macclesfield that are still quite quaint and I’m passionate about protecting our heritage because it is a draw.

"Tourism is on the up here. I speak to guest house owners who say they are very busy, and the likes of Tatton Park and Jodrell Bank are very popular."

Knustford’s Royal May Day celebrations are however mentioned in a separate panel on the Chester pages.

Neighbouring Shropshire and Derbyshire are, in contrast, covered in detail, with 12 and 16 pages respectively.

Chris Brown, Visit Chester & Cheshire chief executive, said: "Whilst we welcome the guide’s extensive coverage of Chester, we’re keen to work more closely with the Lonely Planet team to ensure that Cheshire and its many successful visitor activities and attractions are more fully reflected in future guides."

A spokeswoman for the Lonely Planet said: "Our authors visit all the destinations in the guidebook and judge which they think travellers and holidaymakers will be most interested in.

"There isn’t space to include everywhere in Great Britain within the guidebook.

"If we have omitted a destination, it is because we feel it doesn’t have enough strong draw cards.

"Authors update the Great Britain guidebook every two years, so they will be back soon to research the next edition.

"If they feel the towns in Cheshire have something more to offer, they may be included in the next book."