91Èȱ¬

Spending by tourists in Yorkshire has grown since the world's biggest bike race visited the county last year, new figures have shown.

Some 2.5m spectators turned out to watch the first two stages of the 2014 Tour de France in Yorkshire.

Tourists spent £1.9bn in Yorkshire in the year to March 2015, 7.5% up on the year before, said Visit England.

Spending in the first quarter of 2015 was £380m, an increase of 45% on the same quarter in 2014.

Sir Gary Verity, chief executive of Welcome to Yorkshire, said: "We knew that once we showcased Yorkshire to the world, we would inspire potential visitors to come and see this beautiful county for themselves.

"These fantastic statistics show just that and I have no doubt that Yorkshire businesses will continue to flourish and build on that success for many years to come."

The race started in Leeds on the first day, took in Otley, Skipton, Ripon and finished in Harrogate. On the second day the cyclists started in York, took in Harrogate, Huddersfield and finished in Sheffield.

The Tour's general director Christian Prudhomme previously declared the 2014 opening stages to be "the grandest Grand Depart ever".

The three-week race came to England for the first time since 2007, with two stages in Yorkshire and a third finishing in London.

Crowds at the roadside for the three English stages totalled 4.8m, with 3.5m individual spectators.

Correction 16 July 2015: This article has been amended as figures supplied by Welcome to Yorkshire in the original version incorrectly described figures for quarterly growth in visitor numbers as annual growth.