WEYMOUTH’S registration office has been saved and will remain open following a public outcry - but others around the county are set to close.

Dorset County Council cabinet agreed recommendations that the service provided through six office locations across Dorset - at Blandford, Bridport, Dorchester, Ferndown, Wareham and Weymouth and for “outreach services” to be provided at Gillingham, Sherborne and Swanage subject to town council support.

Registration offices at Shaftesbury and Christchurch are set to close.

Currently the service is self-funding with approximately 70 per cent of income, £550,000, being derived from marriages.

The report before cabinet read: “In advance of anticipated changed in marriage legislation, decisions are required which best positions the registration service to be able to respond to changing customer demand and to mitigate against a potential loss in service income - up to a maximum of £431,000 over the longer term.“

As reported in the Echo, Weymouth was one of the sites threatened with closure under the initial proposal but there was a public outrage from local councillors and residents.

After considering the feedback from the consultation, a panel of councillors came up with a new set of proposals that would see six registration offices maintained rather than five.

Chairman of the policy development panel Bill Trite said the council had spent several months considering how the financial challenges could be met in light of the public response to the council’s initial proposals.

He admitted that the process had been “somewhat more complex and more controversial than we first anticipated”.

The report added that there is therefore likely to be an adverse impact for some people on low incomes and in rural communities and for older people due to increased travelling times and costs and public transport issues.

A consultation was launched in June of last year for eight weeks, with an online survey kept open for an additional week.

A host of people and organisations were targeted including the public, funeral directors, district, town and parish councils and county councillors.

Key themes from the feedback included that the registration service is widely valued by local communities and forms an important part of the local service community offer provided by DCC.

In addition people felt that the availability of public transport would make it difficult for many people to access proposed registration offices and that marriage is a choice; the fee charged should not be subsidised.

Speaking at the meeting Cllr Jill Haynes said: “It’s a complex piece of work. It’s a very good result. People don’t visit registrar offices that often.

“We are looking a making sure that 90 per cent of people are within a half an hour travel time to a registrar office.”