As Royal Ascot romps home into the final furlong today there will be plenty of people asking what was all the fuss about?

Turn back the clocks a few months and we were worrying about traffic congestion, or calculating how to make a fast buck at the expense of well-off southern toffs.

In the end, it was a different story.

If you didn't have a ticket for any of the race days or live near Knavesmire, Royal Ascot at York may well have passed you by.

With up to 50,000 people pouring into the South Bank area of York daily, it's hard to believe that so little impact was felt on the city.

Or rather, there was an impact - but not quite the one we were anticipating.

During the day, York was like a ghost town. A trickle of punters browsed the market in Parliament Street and department stores were eerily quiet.

It seemed the message that York plus Ascot would equal terrible crowds and traffic jams had put people off coming into the city.

And not just the centre. Tesco at Askham Bar was atypically quiet, no doubt because it was smack bang in the middle of the "do not stop, do not enter, do not go anywhere other than York racecourse" route.

I can understand why the city council wanted to control the flow of traffic, but was it really sensible to direct all vehicles along one access route in and out of York when all other roads were left empty? I doubt anyone stuck in a three-hour tailback thought so.

However, the scheme worked a treat for buses and taxis that were able to whiz around town in record time, and for York people who managed to get home ahead of schedule.

As for the financial windfall, it is being forecast that the five-day festival could net about £50 million for the city. Again, that is a point which may need revision. It will be interesting to find out how leading retailers fared during Royal Ascot week, and I'm sure many in the accommodation sector will be scratching their heads about why they still had vacancy signs up this week.

You have to suspect that efforts by some entrepreneurs to make a quick buck on the back of the historic racing event may have contributed to this. After all, nobody wants to be ripped off or think they are the victim of someone else's financial killing.

One person licking his wounds is Dave Martin, of Fulford, who estimates he has lost £100,0000 on a massive Royal Ascot gamble. He spent tens of thousands booking hotel rooms, flights, racecourse tickets and even entire train carriages for the festival - only to find there was no take up from southerners.

Many Royal Ascot regulars decided not to come and we can speculate until Royal Ascot comes round again as to the reasons why.

Celeb watchers will also have been disappointed by the calibre of famous faces at the races.

Speculation reached fever pitch about where Posh and Becks would be staying, whether Rod and Penny would be dressed appropriately for the Royal Enclosure and what Wayne Rooney's missus would be wearing. On Ladies' Day the Daily Mirror photographer told me he was expecting Madonna! He had make do with Lorraine Chase.

Nevertheless, there is no denying that York pulled off a huge coup in staging one of the most prestigious racing festivals in the world.

For five days, York hosted a colourful pageant of posing, preening and poshing-it-up - and some world-class horse racing.

Look North presenter Harry Gration was right on the money when he praised York for managing to restage the Berkshire event without a hitch. However, in the Ascot post-mortem we should be asking ourselves could more have been done to bring the city centre to life during the week?

About £300,000 from Yorkshire Forward was spent on events such as street theatre and battle re-enactments and live music and markets in Parliament Street. But wouldn't it have been memorable - and fitting - to have had a Last Night Of The Proms or big-name rock act stage a gig at Knavesmire this weekend? Or a magnificent fireworks display, a fairground, a circus - a festival for the family?

Royal Ascot at York is a unique event. For racing fans, it was a resounding success, but for York, you can't help but conclude it was a missed opportunity.

What was your Royal Ascot experience? Write to Readers' Letters, Evening Press, 76-86 Walmgate, York, YO1 9YN or email: letters@ycp.co.uk

Updated: 12:59 Saturday, June 18, 2005