Sir Gary Verity pictured at Headingley Test Match in first public appearance since resignation - sat next to Geoffrey Boycott

Sir Gary Verity was lauded for his work with Welcome to Yorkshire - bringing the Tour de France's Grand Depart to the region - before his reign came crashing down after being caught up in an expenses scandal and leaving the tourism body on the brink of bankruptcy.The 57-year-old has not been seen in public since he resigned from his post in 2019 citing health reasons, but also later admitted he had "made errors of judgement regarding his expenses".

However on the first day of the Test Match between England and India at Headingley, he was spotted in the stands sat next to Geoffrey Boycott. His appearance was mentioned by commentators on Sky, who branded the pair "two proud Yorkshiremen".

Sir Gary was previously a member of the board at Yorkshire, having been co-opted in 2013.

The Yorkshire Post previously reported he had cost Welcome to Yorkshire almost £500,000 in two independent inquiries in the wake of his resignation.

The inquiries reported in July 2019 found that Sir Gary’s behaviour towards staff had “fallen short” of expected standards, while it was found he had claimed around £26,000 in “personal” expenses “not incurred wholly for the benefit of Welcome to Yorkshire”.

Investigators were unable to determine whether a further £900,000 of expense claims by Sir Gary and other senior officials had been “reasonable” because of a lack of clear spending policies at the organisation.

Welcome to Yorkshire was forced to take out a £500,000 loan by North Yorkshire County Council, and it is now looking to sell a £1m building to help pay the money after being given an extra year to return the money by the authority.