CITY business owners say they lost a day's money because of a road closure for the finish of the Women's Tour.

As hundreds cheered on the racers as they crossed the line in Hylton Road, nearby businesses were forced to open later to make up for losses during the day and a garage said it lost a full day's work on June 16.

Paul Nunn, retail director of Exhausts Tyres & Batteries, both in Hylton Road, said: "Saturday is one of the busiest days in the week for us and we effectively lost a full day's business.

"There was no proper organisation. It was just disgraceful as far as I was concerned."

Mr Nunn said he was notified of the closure by a representative from organiser SweetSpot who told a fitter the road would be closed in a couple of weeks.

Hairdresser Sam Roberts said she lost hundreds of pounds.

She said: "If we would have had proper notice, we would have worked later during the week and just closed on the Saturday but that wasn't possible in the end.

"They just didn't give us enough notice.

"It wasn't just businesses that were affected though. A lot of the residents had to put with all that noise from four or five o'clock in the morning whilst they were putting the stage together.

"They closed both sides of the road but the spectators only seemed to be on the river side of the road so I don't think it was really necessary to close both sides."

Mrs Roberts could not understand why Hylton Road - a busy route into the city - had to be used as a finishing line.

A spokesman for Worcester City Council said: “We’d like to thank all the traders in St. John’s for their co-operation on the day of the Women’s Tour.

"We had face-to-face discussions well in advance of the day with every business on Hylton Road, to make sure they were fully aware of what was happening and to minimise disruption to them.

“High profile sporting events like the Women’s Tour play an important role in raising the profile of Worcester and attracting hundreds of visitors to the city, who spend money with local businesses.

"Figures showing the economic benefit of the Women’s Tour are not available yet, but we know that last year’s men’s Tour of Britain brought a £0.5m boost to the economy of our prosperous city."