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

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

The town’s council and chamber of trade had hoped to come up with a takeover bid but after months of discussions between them and SLDC a solution has not been found.

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

Allan Muirhead, vice chairman 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 thrashed out what we could do to take it over”. He said he was “furious” that it still planned to close the centre, while takeover plans were still being considered.

But Lawrence Conway, SLDC's corporate director of communities, said he had made it clear “all along” that the doors would shut on September 1.

He added, however, that he would be “delighted” if volunteers could be found to man the service until firmer plans were made for the future.

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

Mayor Jane Strawbridge said that the volunteers would run the Victoria Hall unit seven days a week until October, when the future will be reassessed.

She said: “We are a tourist destination and a tourist destination needs a TIC. If it was to close it would leave a gaping hole in Grange life.”

Grange-over-Sands Town Council owns the building which houses its TIC, but Kirkby Lonsdale Town Council does not.