Bristol's bid to become a World Cup city in 2018 has received support from its West Country neighbours.

Representatives from Dorset County Council and Plymouth tourist board have backed Bristol's ambition to earn host city status, which would put the West of England under a global spotlight.

If England wins the right to stage the biggest sporting event in the world in 2018 or 2022, Bristol is the only city in the West with a chance of hosting World Cup matches.

It is one of 15 cities vying for a place in the England bid to FIFA, with 12 venues due to be selected in December this year.

Should our city be passed up, fans will have to travel to Birmingham, Portsmouth or London for their nearest taste of the World Cup carnival.

William Mumford, executive member for economic regeneration and strategic planning at Dorset County Council, said:

"We wish Bristol the very best of luck with their bid and would, of course, be delighted if the city were to host any of the World Cup fixtures.

"Such a great event in the sporting calendar would bring enormous benefits to Bristol and to neighbouring counties such as Devon.

"An influx of visitors could provide an opportunity to showcase the whole of the West Country to new visitors and we would certainly extend a warm welcome for visitors to the county if Bristol were to be successful in their bid."

With a population of around five million people, the West deserves to be represented as part of an England bid and in turn to share in the social and economic benefits of the tournament.

Andrew Huckerby, chairman of Visit Plymouth, told the Evening Post: "We would be very supportive of a regional bid.

"It would be very good to get World Cup football in the region.

"It would also give more impetus to improving rail links across the South West and encourage more people to explore Plymouth.

"I love it down here. Plymouth has been voted in the top 10 places to visit in the UK by both Which? magazine and Conde Nast Traveller.

"We are an all-year-round place in the South West.

"If you have a wet summer people come here; in winter people come here; if it's a sunny summer people come here. It is a fantastic location.

"Devon and Cornwall are very good supporters of cricket at Taunton, which is a good example of people being prepared to travel for top quality sport."

There could be a huge number of visitors heading for England if FIFA decides it is time for the tournament to return here after it's first visit in 1966 when England won it. Due to the central location of Germany in Europe, a huge number of day trips were recorded from neighbouring countries.

But if the World Cup is held in England, tourism chiefs expect people to stay for longer as they will, on average, be travelling further, or have to incur more expense to cross the Channel.

And that is where the West stands to benefit, particularly if matches are hosted in Bristol.

The England 2018 World Cup bid team visited Bristol on July 13 and return again on September 10.

In the interim they have provided feedback to the Bristol bid team which, according to the chief executive of Bristol City Council, Jan Ormondroyd, has been "very positive".

And following another successful year of staging the Harbour Festival and the Bristol Balloon Fiesta, she added: "We're getting increasingly good at hosting big events.

"It would be a shame for the rest of England to be involved (in the World Cup) and not the South West.

"The Banksy experience has been phenomenal and I think the World Cup is something which will also capture the public's imagination more than we can foresee.