THE Tour of Britain cycle race could be coming to the Forest of Dean next year.

The details of the route have yet to be announced but Forest of Dean District Council has proposed using £25,000 to back the county wide bid to bring one of the stages of the nation’s top road cycling event to Gloucestershire.

The District Council estimates that the Tour of Britain could bring over £6m in profit to the county and would help boost interest in cycling locally as well as help publicise the Forest further a field.

Councillor Richard Boyles cabinet member for finance, said: “We’ve got an under spend of £26,564 in the budget and that’s given us the opportunity to see where we can invest it across the district.

“What we are looking to do is join up with the other councils in Cheltenham, Stroud, Tewkesbury, Gloucester and the Cottswolds and put in a joint bid for the Tour of Britain cycle race.

For the full story read The Forester.