THE Isle of Wight Council still wants to host the Tour of Britain despite the fact it was left £350,000 out of pocket due to last year's sudden cancellation of the event.

The final stage of the elite cycling race was due to take place on September 11, travelling from Ryde to The Needles, but was pulled two days before following the death of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.

Having already paid the hosting fee (£250,000) as well as other expenses toting up to £100,000, the council was left short-changed.

Discussions are continuing, with organisers SweetSpot, to finally bring the event to the Island — potentially in 2024.

Speaking at the council's corporate scrutiny committee last night (Tuesday), Cllr Julie Jones-Evans the cabinet member for regeneration and tourism, said it was a tragedy on many levels that the event didn't take place but they are still looking to host in the future.

She said: "The team has done a lot of work so we know what to do and there's a lot of investment we can capitalise on."

Tory Cllrs Joe Robertson and Peter Spink, however, questioned whether the council had been robust enough in discussions to try and get its money back.

Alex Minns, the assistant director of neighbourhoods, said the council still had a very good relationship with SweetSpot, which was keen to see the Island host it in the future.

The only issue, Mr Minns said, was that due to the travel arrangments the Island could only host either the start or the finish and with those being the most popular stages are booked far in advance.

Mr Minns said the Island could host the event at a lower price in the future.

Under the council's contract with SweetSpot, the authority was entitled to a refund after real costs had been deducted but Mr Minns said as it was so close to the event, almost everything had been paid for.

Colin Rowland, the council's director of neighbourhoods, confirmed if no event was hosted on the Island, it would lose the money already spent.

Discussions are ongoing as to when the Island could host the tour again.