Pothole fund to help cover Tour de France costs

Some of the costs of hosting part of next year's Tour de France in Lancashire will come out of the county council's road repair budget.

The authority said the prestigious event would "require a contribution" from its highways capital maintenance programme, which pays for resurfacing schemes, pothole fixes and the upkeep of bridges, streetlamps and traffic lights.

The fund is worth £72m for the 2026/27 financial year but Lancashire County Council (LCC) has not so far provided a figure for hosting the Tour - an event which is expected to bring up to £15m into the county's economy.

Opposition councillors back hosting the event but warn it must not undermine wider road repairs.

A report presented to LCC noted the Reform UK-run authority was obliged to "enter into legal agreements" relating to Lancashire's participation in Stage 2 of the 'Grand Depart' of the 2027 Tour - which will come with an unspecified cost.

It is understood the money will be used to carry out work on the highway in order to ensure the 80-mile route through Lancashire is fit to stage the event.

Separate, additional funding from the county council's day-to-day budget will also be needed, according to the cabinet report.

Almost £21m has been reserved for scheduled resurfacing and pre-emptive repairs on more than a hundred roads and footways, and it is expected that at least £28m of the total maintenance fund will be spent filling in potholes that appear during the year ahead.

Liberal Democrat county councillor David Whipp - who last week made an unsuccessful call on the authority to review how it prioritises funding for highway repairs within its overall capital programme - told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he was "very much in favour" of Lancashire hosting the Tour.

However, the politician – who also leads Pendle Council – said that it should be funded "in a way that doesn't undermine the rest of the work that the county council should be doing".

Azhar Ali, leader of the Progressive Lancashire official opposition group at County Hall, said the roads on the Tour's route through the county were going to have to be in "immaculate condition".

He added: "That's going to cost a couple of million pounds at least, I would have thought. And it's important that it's not just the route [that is well prepared], but everything in the surrounding area."

The Tour de France will begin in Edinburgh on 2 July, 2027, with cyclists heading through Lancashire the following day, after arriving from the Lake District en route to Liverpool.

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