LIVERPOOL will discover whether Unesco inspectors believe the city should be stripped of its World Heritage Site status by Christmas.

Unesco is sending a monitoring mission to Liverpool because it is concerned about the impact of Peel Holdings’ £5.5bn Liverpool Waters skyscraper scheme to regenerate the city’s northern docklands.

It has warned the city could lose its World Heritage status if the project is given planning permission. It has now been confirmed the three-day mission will arrive on Monday, November 14.

According to the terms of reference, the mission will report its findings by December 23 at the latest.

Last night heritage campaigner Wayne Colquhoun, who was instrumental in persuading Unesco to send its inspectors, said he hoped they would not repeat “past mistakes”.

The inspectors being sent are Ron van Oers and Patricia Alberth from Unesco – the body which runs World Heritage Sites(WHS) – and Mr Giancarlo Barbato, an Italian Conservation Architect from ICOMOS, the International Committee on Monuments and Statues.

Mr van Oers was a member of a similar mission that visited Liverpool in 2006 and decided the WHS was not compromised by new developments at the city’s Pier Head which included the three granite blocks, which are now nearing completion.

Mr Colquhoun said: “I am afraid they put a blindfold on him because of what Unesco then allowed to be done to the central core of the World Heritage Site at the Pier Head – the very symbol of Liverpool – has been an architectural disaster.

“The last time I gave as much respect as I could to the monitoring mission and they let us down badly.

“I would like this monitoring mission to give Liverpool advice on how to protect and enhance the World Heritage Site with sustainable development.

“The reason they are here is because we persuaded them it is a matter of urgency.”

He said he was concerned the inspectors would be “sweet talked” by the city council and Peel Holdings.