In response to ‘Tour of Britain brought £4m to the county’ (The Argus, November 13), I enjoyed the tour’s visit to Brighton in September, watching the stage on TV and dashing down to the seafront with my daughter to see the winners arrive on Madeira Drive.

It is disappointing, however, to read a council statement which so ludicrously hypes the results.

Firstly, their statement declares that an estimated 50,000 people watched the finale on Madeira Drive.

The crowd, where we stood, was no more than one deep, the broad balcony below was completely closed (for security reasons?) and – as the photos prove – the crowd was in the hundreds, not thousands.

I’ve been a regular crowd counter all my life and I have a pretty good eye for numbers.

My attendance estimate, including the full length of Marine Parade, is nearer 5,000 fans, one tenth of the figure claimed by the council.

I am confident any analysis of the TV footage will confirm my figure as closer to the truth.

Secondly, the council claims the expenditure on Brighton and Hove’s economy was £1.29 million. Those who attended on the day spent an average of nearly £52.

The figure of £1.29m is about equal to the match day income of an average Premier League club.

The Tour was free so where is all this money coming from?

Even if you throw in £150,000 for 500 top-of-the-range hotel stays at £300 a night, you are still a long, long way short of figure.

I hope I am missing something because it looks like the council is struggling with basic issues of numeracy.

Conrad Brunner