A Royal visit to Poundbury cost the taxpayer £22,000, accounts have shown.

The Queen, along with husband Prince Philip and son Prince Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, visited Dorchester last October to unveil a statue of the late Queen Mother in Poundbury.

The journey, made by Royal Train, cost a total of £22,060 - more per mile than the entire cost of a first-class return ticket. 

But residents in Poundbury have come to the defence of the Royals, saying that the revenue their visit created for the area was phenomenal.

Emma Cooke, 36, who lives in Poundbury and works in Dorchester town centre, said: "The day of the Royal visit the whole town was packed. Hundreds of people came hoping to catch a glimpse of the Queen and that did so much good for Dorchester.

"People want to visit the area because of its significance to the Royal Family. 

"Prince Charles has been here numerous times, a few years back he came to visit the chocolate factory here.

"If you ask me, the Royals need to travel in something that is safe, and of course they need to travel in style. I am happy to contribute to it all, it's worth it."

Poundbury resident, Margaret Morrissey added: "A Royal visit has a huge impact on the community.

"The Duchy of Cornwall has invested so much in to our area and it is 100 per cent worth it.

"And the amount of revenue the Royal visit has brought to Poundbury and Dorchester is incredible. It balances out.

"I would much rather pay £100,000 for our Royal Family than to have someone like Donald Trump running our country.

"The Royal Family also gives stability to the country, and that is always needed."

The Royal Family made 14 trips costing more than £15,000 each on the Royal Train in 2016-2017, which came to £288,697.

The most expensive journey by Royal Train was made by the Prince of Wales and cost more than £46,000.

In October 2016 the Royal Train ran past Dorchester South and went down to Weymouth before returning to Dorchester, where the royal party alighted on the main ‘up’ platform one.

The cost of a standard anytime day return from London to Weymouth would cost approximately £75.30 with a first class anytime day return costing £120.30.

According to calculations by the Echo the Royal Train cost approximately £161 per mile.

John O'Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance said: "Just like all areas of the public sector, the Royal Household need to make sure that they are making savings where possible and ensuring they are offering value for money in all their spending."

Royal sources said the train was often the best option for safety, security and for allowing the Queen to arrive rested ready to carry out engagements.

A royal source said: "We believe that, though it's not the cheapest way to travel, it does represent many of the features that we look for in terms of safety, security, not causing disruption to lots of other people - convenience - environmental aspects it's strong on as well."

They added that only senior royals were allowed use of it and it travelled overnight so as to not to slow up other trains.

"It does mean that someone like the Queen can actually arrive first thing in the morning to do engagements rather than having to get up at some ungodly hour to get there, and she can arrive rested, briefed and prepared," they said.