Sir, – I feel terribly sorry for your correspondent, N Taylor of Northallerton who seems to have such a negative view of life and especially the Grand Depart of the Tour de France in Yorkshire.

True, a large number of roads will have to be closed for the event; perhaps Mr Taylor would like carnival processions, or perhaps even the Great North Run to be banned for the same reason?

But there will be huge benefits to compensate for the inconvenience. Three million people are expected to watch the event live over the three days, plus two to three billion watching on TV.

It is not unreasonable to expect many of these people, having seen the beautiful countryside that Yorkshire has to offer, will then want to visit for a holiday in future, with enormous economic benefit to the area.

If you see the huge number of camp sites (all full!) everywhere near to the whole route you will realise that many thousands of visitors will be coming anyway, all spending money in shops, cafes and restaurants etc. Perhaps Mr Taylor doesn’t want all these visitors coming here, or perhaps even he doesn’t think that Yorkshire is attractive enough to entice people to visit.

I too have no interest in cycle racing as a sport, nor do I follow the Tour on TV, but the Tour start and first two stages in Yorkshire will be spectacular events and something not to be missed as such.

Anyway, cheer up Mr Taylor, perhaps all those people who feel like you will vacate the area for the day and visit Northallerton to spend their money.

LOU HOLLIDAY Richmond