People wanting to stage events or provide facilities for next summer’s Tour de France have been urged to register their plans with Bradford Council.

Sarah Howsen, of the Council’s tourism department, explained this was for the its own emergency planning purposes rather than a need to gain permission.

She was commenting during last week’s meeting of the Bronte Country Tourism Partnership (BCTP).

“Currently, there are only three events registered for the Tour weekend, and these are all in Ilkley,” she said.

“This is really about safety. For example, if someone reports a fire in a field then only one fire engine might turn up. But it’s a much more serious matter if there are 200 tents in that field.”

She added she had driven along the route the cyclists will follow when they pass through the district, and queried how spectators could be safely accommodated on some of the narrower sections.

BCTP chairman, Dr Matt Stroh, said people in Haworth – and increasingly in Oxenhope – are getting involved with thinking up ways to celebrate the Tour. However, he said there was currently less participation in Keighley itself.

Commenting on how to co-ordinate this participation, BCTP member, Graham Mitchell, said: “One problem is that many well-meaning people have been drawn in, who have never before been involved with something of this scale.”