BRADFORD business bosses have hailed the impact of this year’s Tour de Yorkshire, which brought a record £64 million boost to the county.

The event, which saw the third and final day start at City Hall, attracted a record 2.2m spectators who lined the route and spent eight per cent more than last year.

An independent study also found a 6.5 per cent rise on the previous year for spending on accommodation.

There was also a nine per cent rise on non-accommodation items including food and drink, souvenirs and transport.

A total of 86 per cent of the event’s spectators were from Yorkshire, with the remaining 14 per cent from the UK and abroad, according to the economic impact survey carried out by Leeds Beckett University.

The race was broadcast in 180 countries and watched by 9.7m people across the world.

The third and final leg of April’s event ran from Bradford to Fox Valley, Sheffield. The route saw the riders go through many towns, villages and sites in the Bradford district, including Lister Park, Saltaire, Haworth and Cleckheaton.

Val Summerscales, secretary of Bradford Chamber of Trade, said: “It’s always difficult to quantify with different types of businesses of how many extra people came to the area. It is a large amount of money overall.

“It’s more beneficial for some types of businesses than others, such as restaurants, bars and the evening economy.

“We are very pleased these type of events are being organised and certainly bring a higher profile to the area.

“The overall impact of bringing an event like this to the Bradford district is good for the area.”

Andy Caton, Bradford Chamber of Commerce president, said: “The Tour de Yorkshire has quickly proved itself to be a great success.

“It was an inspired idea of Sir Gary Verity’s to launch it on the back of Le Tour coming to Yorkshire three years ago.

“The event is clearly a boost to the regional economy, as these figures show, and so we applaud Gary and Welcome to Yorkshire for once again profiling our great county.”

Councillor Sarah Ferriby, Bradford Council’s executive member for environment, sport and culture, said: “Millions of people watched the 2017 Tour de Yorkshire on the TV and 2.2m spectators lined the route to cheer on the cyclists.

“The race really puts Yorkshire on the global map and visitors want to come and see the beautiful countryside for themselves.

“All the towns and villages en route benefit from the publicity as do local businesses, not just on the weekend itself but for months afterwards and Bradford is no exception.”

Sir Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said: “This is marvellous news for Yorkshire and the public support this year was truly overwhelming.

“Since we launched the race in 2015 it has grown year-on-year and is now regarded as one of the biggest and best supported races in the sport.

“People have really taken the Tour de Yorkshire to their hearts and we’re working hard to get it extended to four days in 2018.”