HOPES are high the Tour of Britain cycle race could be brought back again after delivering a record £10.8 million economic boost to Cumbria.

Official figures for the two-stage event in September, show that the impact was bigger than ever before with 240,000 spectators.

Mark Brierley, the authority’s lead officer for the Tour of Britain, told a council meeting in Kendal on Monday: “This was the biggest one we have had in terms of economic impact.

“The most likely reason for that is because we had a Friday involved. In the past, we have had Mondays, Tuesdays and mid-week.  Having a weekend involved and giving people the opportunity to make a weekend of it, has made a real difference.”

Mr Brierley said Cumbria County Council spent around £220,000 on the event while the wider cost to the county was around £300,000.

He said 38 percent of the 240,000 spectators spent at least one night in Cumbria – spending money on accommodation, food and other services.

Councillors on South Lakeland Local Committee praised the return on investment.

Committee chairman Nick Cotton (Lib Dem, Sedbergh and Kirkby Lonsdale) said the competitors enjoyed the Cumbria leg of the race.

He said he hoped Cumbria was regularly a fixture in future and wondered what the county needed to do to always be involved in the tour.

Mr Brierley said the county had “a very good” working relationship with the organisers.

Mr Brierley said: “We also have the thing they are always looking for – hills and spectators. The support they get in Cumbria is probably some of the best they get in the country.”

He said he had rarely seen Ulverston town centre busier. “It is certainly one of the largest crowds we have had in Ulverston, which already gets a lot of big events.”

Committee member Mark Wilson (Lab, Ulverston East) said the event in Ulverston was “awesome”.

It was the first time an English county has held two days of the event.

The second stage was held between Barrow and Whinlatter Forest near Keswick.

Cyclists raced along the coast road, through Ulverston, Coniston, Hawkshead Hill, Ambleside, Grasmere, Dunmail Raise, to Keswick and then Whinlatter.

Mr Brierley said more than 500 council staff, police and volunteers helped to make it happen