'It's going to hurt' - Cheltenham MP on £60m tourism hit with no festival crowd

Cheltenham's MP Alex Chalk has warned the lack of crowds at this year's Cheltenham Festival will have a devastating impact on the town's economy, with race week typically bringing in £60 million to the town each year.

That figure equates to around 35 per cent of the £172m the town will earn through tourism each year, in a week where hotels, bars and restaurants thrive from the around 250,000 racegoers at the racecourse.

But in 2021 there will be almost no income from the tourism sector after Cheltenham racecourse director Ian Renton confirmed on Monday that the meeting would only have a very small crowd or even be held behind closed doors.