Lakes' info centres are to close

Millions of visitors flock to the Lake District every year

Jobs are to be lost and tourist information centres closed in an effort to plug a near-£1m budget gap at the Lake District National Park Authority.

Up to 29 jobs are to go from its 200-strong workforce, and tourist information centres at Grasmere, Hawkshead and Coniston are to close.

The Cumbria Tourist Board said the cuts could hit tourism in the Lakes, which attract about 12m visitors a year.

The authority says it must concentrate on core activities like conservation.

The authority, along with other national parks, has been told its government grant is to be frozen.

It says this means it has to save almost £1m from next year's £9m budget.

'Difficult decisions'

A raft of other measures are being introduced to save cash, including a recruitment freeze, seeking extra cash from Cumbria County Council, making savings of £80,000 from its property portfolio and cutting staff in its communications team.

Authority chairman David Thornton said that in future the authority should not be "distracted" into areas of business that other organisations were better placed to deliver.

He said: "Now the decisions have been made, we must all work hard to go forward in a new look streamlined organisation designed to cope with our new financial surroundings.

"At the same time we will continue to do all we can to help and support individuals and local communities affected by the difficult decisions we have taken."

The Cumbria Tourist Board has criticised the move, claiming it will have an adverse affect on visitor numbers to the Lake District.

Economic wellbeing

Chief executive Ian Stephens said: "It would have been better if we could have had a longer lead-in time to these closures.

"The park authority has a duty to ensure the social and economic wellbeing of the area."

The tourist board says its research showed TICs bring in more than £42m to the county every year from holiday bookings and tours.

Figures from 2004 show that the county's centres handled more than four million inquiries from visitors - 91% of those in person.

The board is bidding to set up a separate organisation - Infoco - to help visitors with information

Cumbria has 33 tourist information offices (TIC), which are run by 13 different operators, such as district councils, town councils and the park authority.