THE Tour de France provided Carol Watson with the inspiration to bring two nations together.

She was sitting in her favourite seat at the Dales Bike Centre in Fremington, near Reeth, when it was first announced the race would be passing right by.

And now her packs of bunting bringing the Yorkshire Rose and the French tricolour together are on sale in galleries and shops along the northern arc of the Tour’s first day.

They are also being displayed in various shop and pub windows around the Richmond area.

Her design features the French flag overlaid with the Yorkshire Rose and has been produced in the traditional triangular pennant shape.

Ms Watson commissioned a professional designer to produce artwork based on her original sketches and drawings.

A local printer has produced the pennants and she works in her spare time to laminate and cut the individual pieces and string them together.

“Interest is growing all the time and so are orders,” she said.

“But the biggest thrill will be to see my own product out there on the streets and in shop windows in the knowledge that people are choosing to use my bunting as part of their own celebrations.

“The bunting may even be seen on television, and so around the world, on the day. “Who wouldn’t be knocked out by that?”

Ms Watson has had a varied career and has only recently made the move to her new home in Richmond.

She spent 20 years in health promotion, predominantly in the Bristol area.

Previously she worked as a nurse/midwife with the Save the Children Fund in Somalia, Ethiopia, Uganda and Iraq.