CITY council bosses are being urged not to repeat old mistakes in a critical report on the Tour de France’s visit to York.

A scrutiny group looking into problems which led to thousands of pounds of council money being lost on commercial ventures in July 2014 has published its report this week, as York is confirmed as a possible host town for the 2019 cycling world championships.

Failures in money-making ventures - from a concert at Huntington Stadium to campsites around the city - have long been known, but a task group made up of city councillors has revealed some of the backroom problems.

Councillors spoke to eight people involved in the events - from the chairman of a key safety advisory group to the lead officer for the spectator hubs and the Grand Departy, and councillors.

However, it reveals they could not speak to either the council leader James Alexander, or the chief executive Kersten England at the time - who have both now left the authority.

Cllr Nigel Ayre is now the executive member for leisure and culture, but in 2014 was an opposition councillor and a vocal critic of early plans for a campsite on Monk Stray.

He has now said his council administration has no intention of repeating the mistakes of its Labour predecessors if the 2019 event should come to York.

“This event has a budget of millions of pounds from central government and the lottery. We have no intention of spending taxpayer’s money on risky commercial activities,” Cllr Ayre added.

The report also sheds light on the controversial Grand Departy concert in Huntington Stadium the weekend before the 2014 race.

There is evidence it was initially planned to bring in £250,000, the document shows, but in the end lost £187,000.

The task group found a litany of problems - from no records of clear objectives, to the council breaking its own tendering rules to bring in professional promoters, to a decision to press on because “it would all turn out OK in the end”.

Problems also extended to spectator hubs - a big screen was delivered to Parliament Street when it should have gone to Rowntree Park, but could not be moved because of crowds and traffic on the day.

On the camping sites, councillors found things as simple as the wrong postcode being used on marketing websites caused problems, while the previous public concerns about events being held on Monk Stray were not taken into account.

The report concludes with seven recommendations for any major events held in the future - covering the need for everything from proper risk registers to back-ups in case mobile phones failed on the day.

It will be presented to a council committee next week, when members will be asked to back its findings and send it on to the ruling executive committee.