The world famous Ilkley Moor has been given the lowest grading in a new version of Monopoly.

The landmark will fill the space usually taken by Old Kent Road in a Bradford edition of the game due out next month.

But the makers of the game insist they have put the scenic moor on the lowest graded square for good reason – to try to keep it green. They say because the returns on Old Kent Road are so low in the traditional format, few people develop the site. In the game, it will be worth £60 in Monopoly currency.

But the move is already raising eyebrows in Ilkley, as the communications director at the board’s makers has admitted.

“We took many soundings from the public who said Ilkley Moor is not only a regional but a national treasure too,” said Graham Barnes, from London-based Winning Moves UK.

“Some also said they’d hate to see developers ever building on it. Since it yields the lowest return on the Monopoly board there is less chance of that happening than say on most of the board’s other leading lights like Trafalgar Square and Mayfair.

“Old Kent Road is one of our most talked-about sites and we are very proud of it. Only a very few select places and landmarks were considered for it. As far as we are concerned it is the most high-profile position after Mayfair, which is at the other end of the board.”

Owen Wells, who is chairman of the Friends of Ilkley Moor, insisted the spot should still be at the more expensive end of the game, despite accepting the maker’s arguments in good humour.

“It think it should be up there as Park Lane or Mayfair,” he said. “I’m a very hard and vicious player and take no hostages and develop everything in the most unscrupulous fashion, but even I would be unhappy about putting too many hotels on Ilkley Moor.”

Read more in the Ilkley Gazette.