Civic leaders in Wolverhampton expressed incredulity after communities secretary Robert Jenrick was described in a government press release as “kicking off his countrywide town tour in Wolverhampton”.

As if to compound the error, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government reported Jenrick as having toured Wolverhampton’s “town centre”.

Wolverhampton was one of three towns named as a Millennium 2000 City after a decade-long campaign by local MPs and councillors, fighting off competition from 36 other places.

It will be seen as particularly embarrassing for Jenrick, who was born and educated in Wolverhampton – which became a city when he was 18 – although he lived in nearby Shropshire.

Pat McFadden, the Labour MP for Wolverhampton South East, told The Guardian: “The Tories have made big promises to invest more in local communities but it’s not a great start if ministers don’t even know that Wolverhampton is a city not a town.”

Claire Darke, the mayor of Wolverhampton, added: “We have been a city for 19 years and they need to catch up. Are they that out of touch that they did not bother to look it up?

“My concern would be that this competition is politically motivated and that they are doing it because there is a tough fight next year to vote for [a] regional mayor for the West Midlands and they are trying to attract support.”

The competition for English towns was announced on Wednesday with the aim to “celebrate towns’ achievements”, including in areas such as entrepreneurship, technology, community, enterprise and integration.