WIRRAL'S local economy was boosted by £5m from visitors last year, a new report has revealed.

A report, which will be presented to the Business Overview and Scrutiny Committee on July 4, says more than 25,000 visitors came to Wirral to enjoy the event calendar.

Events delivered as part of Imagine Wirral 2018 included: Three Festivals: Tall Ships Regatta; New Brighton Revisited; Lost Castles; Giant Spectacular and River of Light.

The Imagine Wirral programme also benefitted from commercial income and external funding, including what was at the time, the largest ever Arts Council England bid by the Council – contributing £77,000 to support the events programme.

Cabinet member for Culture and Tourism, Cllr Christine Spriggs, said: “Imagine Wirral was a fantastic year and this report shows how important arts, culture and heritage and the continued support for our Wirral Creative sector is for our borough and the visitor economy and demonstrates the benefits that it can bring to improving our residents’ and visitors’ health, wellbeing and perceptions of Wirral.

“Across the year, Imagine Wirral brought our communities together – local schools really got involved and more than 700 schoolchildren participated in the programme, while hundreds of volunteers played a key role in supporting the delivery of the events.

“But alongside the financial and social value these cultural events have had a wider impact, focusing national and international media attention on Wirral.

"Our Lost Castle was featured in The Times and on BBC One’s The One Show and the New Brighton Revisited photographic retrospective attracted media coverage from the likes of Vogue Italia, while the Giants Spectacular in New Brighton made international news, including NBC News in America.”

This year, having been named Borough of Culture, Wirral has played host to events such as The Witching Hour and OVO Energy Tour Series with events such as a new Food and Drink Festival and OVO Energy Tour of Britain still to come.