Tour of Britain brings financial boost despite poor weather

Some spectators were put off turning out to watch the Tour of Britain on Sunday due to poor weather

The Tour of Britain's Scots stage should generate hundreds of thousands of pounds for the local economy despite poor weather putting off spectators.

Only about half the anticipated crowd of 8,000 people saw the race finish at Drumlanrig Castle on Sunday.

Dumfries and Galloway Council events officer Ian Barr said high winds and rain had kept the numbers down.

However, he said that was unlikely to significantly diminish the overall financial return from the race.

"The economic impact comes from two or three sources," he said.

"Obviously, the visitor expenditure is the hard, direct financial impact, and that normally comes in at about £250,000 to £300,000 per annum.

"We have an excellent relationship with the Tour of Britain people and as a result they base themselves here for two or three days now - especially when it is at the start of the race."

He said that included cycling teams, race staff and support staff.

Mr Barr added that the promotional value of the event was one of its greatest assets.

"Perhaps the greatest benefit is the PR profile for Dumfries and Galloway as a beautiful place to visit," he said.

"We reckon that comes in at £600,000 to £700,000 per year using the methodologies VisitScotland uses to quantify that."

Sunday's stage ran from Peebles in the Scottish Borders to Drumlanrig Castle in Dumfries and Galloway.

It was won by Italian rider Elia Viviani.