A TOURIST information centre will close on Monday unless volunteers come forward to save the day.

Kirkby Lonsdale’s treas-ured service has been under threat since South Lakeland District Council announced it was pulling the plug because of budget shortfalls earlier this year.

The town’s council and chamber of trade had hoped to take it over, but after months of discussions bet-ween them and SLDC, a solution has not been found.

Now SLDC has told staff they will not be needed at the Main Street premises after the bank holiday.

Allan Muirhead, vice chair of Kirkby Lonsdale Town Council, said talks had broken down between the two authorities and that there had been a “clearly naive assumption that they (SLDC) would do their best to keep the TIC open while we, the town, thrashed out what we could do to take it over”.

“I can’t speak for other councillors but I am furious about this. We were never given a firm date and it is extremely unfair to expect a small town council to come up with a solution at such short notice,” he said.

Coun Ian McPherson, who represents Kirkby Lonsdale on SLDC, added he was “very disappointed”.

But Lawrence Conway, SLDC's corporate director of communities, said he had made it clear “from day one” that the doors would shut on September 1. He said he would be “delighted” if volunteers could be found to man the service until firmer plans were made for the future but that “the ball was in KLTC’s court”.

A band of around 30 volunteers has been put together in Grange-over-Sands to take over the operation of its TIC from next Friday (September 4).

Mayor Jane Strawbridge said residents would run it until October, when the service’s future would be reassessed.

She said: “We are a tourist destination and a tourist destination needs a TIC.”