The people of Yorkshire have been banned from calling people 'LOVE' to avoid causing offence during the Tour de France visit

Staff, who are set to welcome visitors to Yorkshire for this summer’s Tour de France, have been told to mind their p’s and q’s and stop using everyday greetings found throughout the Dales.

An online training tutorial called Tour Makers, informs them that they should avoid calling visitors ‘love’ in case it causes offence.

And it’s not just that traditional term of endearment that’s off limits. Staff are also being told to steer clear of addressing people as ‘mate’ and ‘darling’.

The tutorial informs you to: “Be confident and naturally friendly. Avoid using words such as ‘mate’, ‘love’ or ‘darling’ – they may sound friendly to you, but they could offend some people.”

One volunteer, who asked not to be named, said: “I must admit I was a bit surprised when I read the advice.
“…it’s going to need a lot of concentration for every single one of us to stop calling people ‘love’.”

Brian Forbes said: “To ask volunteers to be “naturally friendly” and then tell them to not use terms which reflect natural friendliness seems like a contradiction.

“I thought embracing the local culture was part of the tour experience and one which foreign visitors would expect.”
A spokesman for the Welcome to Yorkshire tourism agency said: “Yorkshire is quite rightly well known for its famous warm welcome…however, we don’t want volunteers to use language that may cause confusion for our overseas visitors.”

Almost 12,000 Tour Makers will be on hand to assist fans during the opening three stages of the high-profile race.
The first two sections take place in Yorkshire on July 5 and 6, with the third to follow between Cambridge and London on July 7.

The Tour Makers will be responsible for giving advice and directions to spectators in a similar fashion to the Games Makers who played an important part in the huge success of the London 2012 Olympics.