THE number of tourists visiting Lancashire rose last year by 4.7 per cent to 58.9million.

The increase was revealed yesterday Marketing Lancashire which also said its figures showed that the number of jobs in the sector have went up in 2016 by 2.6 per cent to 59,000.

Tourism brought the county economy £4.13 billion in 2016, a rise of 5.3 per cent.

Ruth Connor, chief executive of Marketing Lancashire, said: “We’re delighted to see another successive year of growth in visitor numbers as well as a marked year on year increase in both economic impact and jobs,

“Our strategy aims to see visitor numbers reach 70 million by 2020.”

She added:”This endorses the very valuable contribution that tourism continues to make to Lancashire’s prosperity.”