As the town braces itself for another Cheltenham Festival (March 14-17), it is feast and famine for local business.

The festival is worth a massive £274 million to the local economy. That cash is enjoyed by the racecourse itself and the many hotels, pubs, restaurants and bars in the town and surrounding areas, as well as taxis and public transport providers.

But there are many businesses in the town which will see next to no custom for the week.

Thanks to traffic chaos and the behaviour of some racegoers, many local people stay at home for the week and avoid the town centre. Fashion shops, bookshops and other retailers which aren't of interest to Festival visitors see a fall in sales and footfall for the week, as locals stay away.

Despite the addition of extra bins and toilets on Evesham Road - the main route between the town centre and the racecourse - it gets covered in litter. Combined with rowdy behaviour, it becomes a no-go area for locals.

The Love Our Turf campaign aims to improve the relationship between the racecourse and the local community. It was introduced after a 'considerable number' of complaints to the police and crime commissioner (PCC) about people urinating in gardens, defecating in public parks and verbally abusing local residents.

The campaign follows talks between the PCC, the Jockey Club, police, local councils and community representatives.

Andre Klein, Cheltenham Racecourse community engagement manager, said: "Love Our Turf will operate over all four days of The Festival. There will be an increased number of wayfinding stewards, additional toilet facilities and we will be facilitating an enhanced litter picking programme.

"Hopefully the Love Our Turf campaign will go some way to alleviating some of the issues our residents experienced last year, when we had record attendances across all four days of The Festival."

The campaign will cover Evesham Road, Albert Road, Tommy Taylors Lane, Paddocks Lane and the end of the Honeybourne Line footpath.

To try to encourage local people to keep using the town centre, Cheltenham Borough Council announced recently that parking would be free at Town Centre East car park between 2pm and 5pm on March 14-17.

Around 260,000 people are expected to attend Cheltenham Festival across the four days of racing.