THE legacy of the Tour de France on North Yorkshire’s national parks is to be discussed at a meeting next week.

North Yorkshire County Council will discuss making a bid for millions of pounds of Government funding for a project to promote cycling in the national parks.

It is already working on a bid with the Yorkshire Dales based around the Tour de France route and legacy, including signage and improvement works.

Although it decided against leading a bid for the North York Moors last month, officers of the North York Moors National Park Authority are now considering submitting a bid, which the council may get involved with.

It said it has not had time to finalise proposals before the meeting of the executive next Tuesday and the deadline for submissions is April 30, before the executive’s next meeting.

It recommends approving up to £1.5 million of council monies from funding identified for Tour de France route maintenance works from the Highways Capital Programme for use in the bid.

It is also hoping to secure funding from third parties for the local contribution, which must constitute at least 30 per cent of any bid.