THE city of Liverpool has been removed from the world heritage list after a UN committee found that developments including the new Everton FC stadium threatened the integrity of its waterfront.

The city was named a Unesco world heritage site in 2004, putting it alongside the Taj Mahal, Egypt’s pyramids and Canterbury Cathedral.

But today, following a secret ballot, the UN’s world heritage committee voted to remove the city from the list, in a decision branded incomprehensible by Liverpool Mayor Joanne Anderson.

“I’m hugely disappointed and concerned by this decision to delete Liverpool’s world heritage status, which comes a decade after Unesco last visited the city to see it with their own eyes,” the mayor said.

“I find it incomprehensible that Unesco would rather Bramley-Moore Dock remain a derelict wasteland, rather than making a positive contribution to the city’s future and that of its residents.”

Plans for Everton’s new £500 million stadium, sited at the dock, were approved earlier this year despite objections from world heritage body Icomos, acting on behalf of Unesco, as well as the Victorian Society and Historic England.

A report considered by the UN committee, which met virtually and in person in Fuzhou, China, said: “The approved planning application for a new football stadium in Bramley-Moore Dock … adds to the ascertained threat on the property’s outstanding universal value and is directly contrary to the approach requested by the committee for this property.”

Liverpool City Council said £700m had been invested in upgrading historic assets within the site in the past few years and that a further £800m is due to be spent in the next five years, including on Everton’s move from Goodison Park to the dock area.