Tour de Yorkshire routes could see cyclists banned from riding after angry motorists complained.

Riders who cycle in pelotons, where they pack closely together as they ride, have been accused of hogging entire roads by refusing to give way to motorists, flicking v-signs at car drivers and speeding through villages.

Warning signs are now being put up to urge riders to cycle in single file rather than pack formations when negotiating the narrow routes across the Yorkshire Dales.

The signs come at a time when British Cycling is already battling to keep Yorkshire Tour de France routes open after a spate of deaths were revealed earlier this year.

North Yorkshire County Councillor Caroline Patmore said “the behaviour of cyclists” was the problem.

“All they do is speed and it’s not just two abreast - sometimes it’s three or four on very narrow roads,” she said.

“It is not good for motorists following them up a hill. When you do overtake them you get a rude gesture.”

Councillor Patmore added that cars coming up behind them could not seem to get past the cyclists who ride “four abreast”.

"It is called road rage. We have very wide lorries and farm vehicles and there really is not room on the roads for cyclists and these wide vehicles,” she said.