The Tour of Britain will return to Suffolk next year, it has been revealed.

Organisers of the UK’s biggest professional cycle race have confirmed at least one stage of the week-long spectacle will return to East Anglia in September.

Tens of thousands of people lined the streets when the Tour came through the county in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Over the three years, the event increased in popularity and its economic impact grew, boosting the region by £3.5m two summers ago.

Exact details of where and when the colourful peloton of some of the world’s best cyclists will pedal their way through our region next year are yet to be confirmed - but it is understood the route will pass through several towns, and take in both Norwich and Ipswich.

The Tour of Britain first came to Norfolk in 2010 when it followed a route from King’s Lynn to Great Yarmouth.

It then returned in 2011 and 2012, sharing a stage with Suffolk.

In 2012 – the London Olympics year – some 180,000 people in Norfolk and Suffolk lined the streets to cheer on the likes of Sir Bradley Wiggins and sprinter Mark Cavendish.