Gloucestershire taxpayers may not get a refund for the cancelled Tour of Britain stage which was planned for the county.

The race was set to go ahead on September 9 but was cancelled after the death of Queen Elizabeth II the day before.

The stage six of the eight-stage bike race would have set off from Tewkesbury with a finish in Gloucester this afternoon. Other parts of the route would have included Winchcombe, Cirencester, Tetbury and Dursley.

Organisers said the cancellation was due to operational reasons and ITV race commentator Ned Boulting said he understood this was due to police officers needed for duty in the capital.

A freedom of information request revealed that it has cost Gloucestershire County Council £175,000 to host the Tour of Britain events this year.

This does not include policing costs or road closures and the council says any refund for the cancellation will be subject to negotiations.

The council declined to say how much the specific cost for hosting stage six of the men’s tour was.  But officials did say the issue of whether they are refunded will involve negotiations with Tour of Britain organiser SweetSpot Group.

A spokesperson for Gloucestershire County Council said: “This is a very rare and sad situation and the issue is now subject to contractual negotiations between the parties involved. We are unable to comment further at this time.”