IT SHOULD come as no surprise, yet it is still fantastic news that around 1.5m people have visited Liverpool for the first time since the start of the city’s Capital of Culture year.

Anyone who was lucky enough to witness the amazing spectacle of the giant La Machine spider, over the past few days will have seen how it captured the public’s imagination and, as we report today, attracted an estimated 200,000-plus people into the city.

It has attracted international coverage for Liverpool, nearly all of it positive, and is of the kind that money cannot buy.

But this has been just the most dramatic and recent example of the beneficial effects Capital of Culture has had on the city.

Now research carried out for Liverpool Council claims that 6m visited a cultural attraction between January and July.

The study, commissioned half-way through the year, claims that 80% of local people questioned believe Capital of Culture will give people outside the city a more positive impression of Liverpool.

Merseyside Maritime Museum has seen one of the highest increases in visitor numbers from 2007, with 589,000 through its doors – a rise of 94%.

In May, hotel occupancy rates were up 6.8%, outstripping all other regions, and 60% of people in Liverpool said they had attended a local museum or gallery, which is higher than the UK average of 42%.

There have already been so many highlights, from the opening ceremony for Capital of Culture, Sir Paul McCartney’s Anfield concert, the Mathew Street festival, the Tall Ships and the Klimt exhibition at Tate Liverpool.

But there are still many more to come, such as the 5th Liverpool Biennial Art exhibition, which starts on Saturday, and the MTV Europe Music awards, in November.

This is not the time to descend into petty party political squabbling, but to celebrate what a great achievement Capital of Culture year has been so far.