A FRESH clash has erupted over the proposed visit of the Tour of Britain to East Lancashire - amid claims supporters are seeking a ‘blank cheque’ for the road race.

Plans are being drawn up for the cycling spectacular to be staged across Ribble Valley and Pendle this September, bringing 120 elite cyclists to the area.

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But Labour councillors have withdrawn from a Pendle Council tour working group amid concerns £100,000 already set aside for the event is only the tip of the iceberg.

Labour is unhappy thousands of pounds more may be spent on backing the race when frontline services are going to be cut, echoing fears raised last November by the borough’s Liberal Democrats.

Conservatives in Pendle are furious, though, after giving Labour two seats on the campaign, only to be faced with a walkout after a single meeting.

Labour councillor David Whalley, one of the ex-working group members, said: “Whilst the Labour group were unhappy at this level of cost at a time when frontline services cuts are being implemented by the Tories, we were prepared to work and secure a better deal for Pendle.

“However, at the first meeting it became clear that the £100,000 was simply to join the project and there is a real risk that there will be thousands of pounds of additional costs being borne by Pendle residents.

“The Labour group is not prepared to take part in a blank cheque exercise in these difficult times.”

Coun Bob Allen, who also took part, added: “I would urge Pendle Council to rethink its strategy and ask themselves is this a worthwhile investment of a huge sum at a time when services are under real pressure.

“They need to be honest and tell us what the actual cost of the whole event is.”

Tory councillor Paul White, who chairs the working group, said: “They came to the first meeting, played an active part, and had an input into where the route should go. At no stage at all had they raised concerns about the Tour of Britain.

“Their suggestion it is a blank cheque exercise is ridiculous - £100,000 has been allocated and I expect it to come in under budget. They’ve already tried to withdraw funding for the blues festival - they don’t understand tourism.

“I expect it to bring in over £2million for the local economy, with tens and tens of thousands watching along the route, and over a million people watching on TV.”

Councillors in Ribble Valley have already agreed to provide £90,000 to support the event, which will involve the authorities working with promoters Sweet Spot. Currently it us understood that the race would start in the Clitheroe area and end in Pendle.

The Tour of Britain has its origins in a dispute between cyclists during the Second World War. The British administrative body, the National Cyclists’ Union (NCU), had feared since the 19th century that massed racing on the roads would endanger all racing, including early-morning time trials and, originally, the very place of cyclists on the road.

A race organised from Llangollen to Wolverhampton on 7 June 1942, in defiance of the NCU, led to its organisers and riders being banned. They formed a new body, the British League of Racing Cyclists, which wanted not only massed racing but a British version of the Tour de France.

The first multi-day stage race in Britain was the Southern Grand Prix in Kent in August 1944.[3] It was won by Les Plume of Manchester. The first stage was won by Percy Stallard, the organiser of the Llangollen-Wolverhampton race in 1942.