A £334,322 package of investment to encourage tourism in Ripon has been agreed.

A Single Regeneration Budget (SRB) grant of £35,000 was approved to create and distribute marketing material to promote the city's attractions. Once there, visitors will be greeted by a tourist information centre run by Harrogate Borough Council, thanks to a grant of £19,996. It will open from November to March.

An extra attraction to encourage visitors to explore the city centre fully will be provided in next April, with the launch of several walking trails funded by a SRB grant of £39,963.

The final part of the package is the provision of comfortable, high quality accommodation for visitors. SRB grants of up to 75 per cent of project works, maximum grant £15,000, are available for owners of guesthouses and hotels to upgrade the accommodation they offer.

Chairman of Ripon City Partnership, Bernard Bateman, said: "If we can attract more visitors, improve their experience while they're here and encourage them to come back again and again, every sector of the city's economy will benefit."