An investigation into the cost- effectiveness of Government Internet information has revealed that its site on UK World Heritage locations has received only a handful of hits.

The www.ukworldheritage. org.uk site, which includes links to Durham Cathedral and Castle and Hadrian's Wall sites, came bottom with 77 visits.

The www.crimestoppers.org.uk site was overwhelmed with visits and the Meteorological office netted 426,000 hits, the Guardian newspaper study showed.

The World Heritage site, operated by the Government Department for Culture, Media and Sport, is responsible for 11 other websites, together costing more than £43m in the financial year 2004-5.

The Government has built itself an empire on the web but the popularity of the sites does not compare to sites in the private sector.

Durham Cathedral's own website www.durhamcathedral.co.uk clearly outstrips the Government's World Heritage site.

The cathedral's Chapter Steward, Anne Heywood, said it was clear from the hundreds of e-mails received that many people were consulting the cathedral's own website.

Mrs Heywood said that people consulted websites for different reasons but said she believed that anyone wanting to know anything about the "Icon of the North East and home to the Shrine of St Cuthbert'' would more likely simply key in the words Durham Cathedral, than UK World Heritage sites.

Mrs Heywood also revealed that Durham Cathedral would be redesigning its site next year.

"Websites age like everything else,'' she said.