Portsmouth head of culture vows to seek answers over Tour de France fiasco

THE head of culture in Portsmouth says she will seek answers over what has happened to the Tour de France business case.

Senior Tory councillor Linda Symes said she wants to know from Flick Drummond what’s going on – and why problems have been thrown up.

Cllr Symes said: ‘I don’t know whether she has gone to the government and the case has now been lost.’

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The councillor said she would not comment further until she found out more.

Cycling leaders meanwhile fear the bid is ‘back to square one’ – and efforts to boost the sport are not being taken seriously. Roger De Vere, secretary of Fareham Wheelers Cycling Club, said: ‘I thought the protocol would be, when an MP sends something to the government, that it is file stamped, and there’s a receipt for it. That’s just proper business sense.

‘So the MP needs to go and try and get this fast-tracked.

‘It looks like we have gone back to square one.

‘It’s very disappointing we are in this situation.

‘A lot of councils have a problem with supporting cycling. It’s caused a lot of friction. There’s the established means of transport, but cycling is coming in and taking part of the road.’