The Royal Navy and the RAF will not be saddling up to give the UK's biggest cycling event a Dartmouth welcome.

It had been hoped that the Royal Navy would be able to supply a warship and a Royal Marines band to help give the Tour of Britain cycle race a real boost when it hits Dartmouth this September.

And there were also hopes that the RAF Red Arrows would be able to bring their flight simulator to the town for the huge event.

But town councillors have been told the town's naval college had not been able to arrange any of the visits – although it is still possible that there could be a fly past by the Royal Navy Historic Flight.

The news from the special group set up to co-ordinate local events round the cycle race visit was unveiled at a meeting of the town council's general purposes committee.

So far the line up of events for the event – expected to bring more than 20,000 people pouring into Dartmouth – includes a Friday night open-air concert in Royal Avenue Gardens with the band Mad Dog McRea.

Saturday's events include street entertainers, the town crier, costumed actors dressed as Puritans, a crabbing competitions and a town treasure hunt.

It is also planned to hold a fete in Coronation Park with face painting; stalls provided by local organisations, including the RNLI; cycle security marking by the police; and static bikes set up from Tone Leisure.

Stunt bike rider Andrei Burton will be performing in Royal Avenue Gardens while the UA3 choir will be performing in the market square.

The only Westcountry leg of the Tour of Britain Cycle Race is due to finish at Dartmouth on September 15 in a thrilling finale involving a dash for the winning line along the North Embankment.

More than 100 cyclists are expected to take part in the race itself, while thousands of people are expected to show up to watch the finish.

The massive cycle race roadshow will be taking over Mayors Avenue car park for the day and many of the town roads will be closed in readiness for the racers to hit town.

While the BRNC cannot get a guardship for the event, navy bosses have said they can help with the manpower – by supplying up to 60 cadets.

The report also revealed that Devon County Council is giving £1,000 to support the BRNC Volunteer Band while Dartmouth Town Council will be contributing £2,500 – to support the crabbing competition, the Mad Dog McRea concert, the Dartmouth in bloom floral decorations and public liability insurance. South Hams Council is expected to supply other support worth around £30,000.

The plans are for the volunteer band to be performing from the Station Restaurant to the entrance to Coronation Park

Deputy mayor Rob Lyon said that organisers were hoping that the volunteer band would put on a marching display but warned it would depend on which members of the band were taking part.

'It rather depends on how many of the marchers are working that day. If you only get the sitting down ones, it could be difficult. I don't know whether they are going to be stationary or not,' he said.