A COUNCIL backing Yorkshire’s Tour de France 2014 Grand Depart will consider applying for a share of £12m Government funding to promote cycling in two national parks.

North Yorkshire County Council is examining submitting a bid to the Department for Transport to improve conditions for cyclists in the North York Moors and Yorkshire Dales national parks.

Its officers are also working with partners to develop a Yorkshire Dales National Park bid, based around the Tour de France route and legacy, including signage and road improvement works.

The Government announced a £62m investment in cycling in January, £50m of which will be used to promote bike tracks in cities, with the remainder being made available to councils working in partnership with national parks.

The county council, which is the highway authority that covers the vast majority of the area of both national parks, has until April 30 to submit a bid.

Successful bidders will have to demonstrate their schemes would enhance the tourism economy and help to deliver health benefits and be able to fund 30 per cent of the project.

The council’s contribution towards a Yorkshire Dales National Park bid would come from £1.5m in the Highways Capital Programme intended for Tour de France route maintenance work.

Councillors are understood to have rejected the possibility of leading on a bid for the North York Moors, due to the unavailability of funding and the short timescale for bid submissions.

However, the North York Moors National Park Authority is believed to be considering leading a bid for the grant.