Following a judicial review this morning it emerged that by law Londonderry remains the legally correct title for the maiden city.

Revealing his findings at the High Court, Mr Justice Weatherup said that to change the name to Derry it would be "necessary to change the charter by legislation".

Today's hearing came about after Derry City Council had asked for legal clarification on whether the legal name of the city is Derry or Londonderry.

Reacting to the ruling former Sinn Fein councillor Barney O'Hagan said he was disappointed by the outcome.

"We are disappointed that the matter has not been resolved today but it actually, in essence, changes nothing," he said.

"Derry City Council decided that the official name of the city, when it voted four years ago, should be changed. This has come about because of a failure by the DoE to deal with that issue and we will be asking them and any other relevant government agency to do whatever is necessary to deal with this anomaly."

A request that the Crown should cover the cost of the legal wrangling over the official name of the city is due to be heard at the High Court at a later date.

The legal hearing began in September 2006 after the City Solicitor's Office submitted an application for a ruling in a bid to finally resolve the issue.

The move followed a detailed report in 2003, prepared by Francis Farrelly QC, that concluded that the city's name changed to Derry in 1984 when Derry City Council was established to replace the Londonderry Corporation.

The report was initially sent to the Department of the Environment for consideration, but when it failed to respond, councillors voted to mount a legal challenge to get a court ruling on whether the 1984 legislation, when combined with other laws, had changed the city's name.

Nationalists on the council have repeatedly argued that the name change was necessary to avoid confusion when marketing the city for inward investment or tourism.

The DUP, however, have consistently claimed unionists would use the name Londonderry regardless of today's decision.

Speaking ahead of the ruling today, DUP MP Gregory Campbell, advocating a retention of the London prefix, said: "We have to ensure the two communities remain comfortable with the way life is in the city."

However, Sinn Fein councillor Peter Anderson, whose party colleagues attended the hearing, said the nationalist majority had a right to have their city's name officially recorded as Derry.