IT’S been hailed as a great success with competitors travelling from all over the world to take part.

Peeblesshire residents have enjoyed a spectacular event right on their doorstep and local traders have welcomed the boost in business it has provided.

But not everybody is happy at the way TweedLove has been managed.

The organisers of the biggest cycling festival in the UK have come in for criticism from Innerleithen Community Council for allegedly failing to give adequate notice of the routes they were using during the Enduro World Series race.

The fiercest critic was council chairman Paul Faris who said: “These cyclists are visiting and we live here. They will get a warmer reception if we know when they are coming.” Race director Neil Dalgleish hit back, describing it as “sad” that community councillors should complain about an event that had brought an estimated £500,000 cash injection to the local economy.

Mr Faris was upset that no warning of the cyclists’ way through Innerleithen using the Tweed Railway Path, the High Street and then Leithen Road had been advertised.

Concerns have also been raised over alleged noise level and nudity on Tweed Green in Peebles, which was used as a base for cyclists, late at night. “I was concerned that I knew nothing of where they were going until I saw some signs on Cuddy Brig,” Mr Faris told the council meeting. “I know that they had made no contact with Peebles Community Council or Walkerburn Community Council either.

“Everyone has said the cyclists are of benefit and something we should welcome but failure to communicate was a problem.

“We need them to tell us their plans - I have concerns that they haven’t done due risk assessment properly.” Mr Faris added that the route for the Enduro Race could have caused problems for the organisers of the Tweed Valley Walking Festival which was staged over the same weekend.

Fellow community councillor Marshall Douglas is involved with the walking festival and he said one of his colleagues had contacted Tweedlove organisers to get an idea of routes. They told us they wouldn’t give details in advance as this might give some of the competitors an unfair advantage,” he said. Mr Faris later told the Peeblesshire News: “I want to stress that we are behind this festival but they should have talked to us about it as there could easily have been a clash with the walking festival.” At the commiunity council meeting Tweeddale East councillor Stuart Bell sprang to the defence of TweedLove. He said: “This is something we need to encourage for the tourism. We should engage in a contract to maximise benefit for the community.” And community councillor Brian McCrow, who lives in Cardrona, added: “The bikers passed by my house and it was a great sight.” Mr Dalgleish told the Peeblesshire News he was surprised at the criticism from some members of Innerleithen Community Council. “We had around 550 cyclists come down the railway path past the Traquair Arms along the High Street and then Leithen Road and there were no problems and no need to close any roads in Innerleithen,” he said.

“The feedback from businesses has been very positive with all of them reporting a remarkable upturn in trade. The only concerns I heard from anyone was that they were understocked!

“We first announced the festival last October and then gave more information in February about the way it would all work. But as it was a World Series event the rules didn’t allow us to reveal the course too long in advance.

“I’m not sure why they would have needed to know most of the routes anyway as most of the cycling is done in the forest. But we did put as much information as possible on the website.

“We had competitors from the States, Japan, Australia and all over Europe. This event is growing every year and it’s been a fantastic economic success. It’s so sad that some people seem to be against us.” Mr Dalgleish also insisted that there had been no problems with the organisers of the walking festival. “They have sent us an e-mail saying they are going to move their event to the middle of June next year to avoid a clash but they made no mention of any issues with this year’s event,” he said.