DORCHESTER’S town crier has spoken out about the threat to the town’s Tourist Information Centre.

West Dorset District Council is currently consulting with the public as part of a review of Tourist Information Centres in the area.

The four centres at Dorchester, Bridport, Lyme Regis and Sherborne could all close as a result of the review with a greater reliance on online services.

Other possible outcomes include the TICs remaining but being run by other partners such as town councils or volunteer organisations or with reduced district council services.

The review, which aims to save £300,000, will also consider relocating the Dorchester TIC from Antelope Walk to the Shire Hall when the site is redeveloped as a major tourist attraction.

Alistair Chisholm, who is also a town councillor, has hit out at the proposals, claiming that the TIC was crucial for a town such as Dorchester that welcomed so many visitors and even penned a special cry to demonstrate his opposition.

He said: “I feel very strongly about it and certainly the Dorchester one should stay, I think they should all stay.”

Cllr Chisholm said that even reducing the services or having the centres run by volunteers would take away much of what was important about the TICs.

He said: “I find it very concerning when people say in other parts of the county they are doing it with volunteers because the whole point about Dorchester and the other ones in West Dorset is they are very professionally run and the quality of the service you get is second to none.

“Tourism more than anything else is a service industry and a people-based industry.

“We certainly haven’t reached the point yet where technology can replace the quality of service.”

Cllr Chisholm said that as well as signposting visitors the TIC also made an ‘enormous contribution’ to local people, organisations and events by providing somewhere tickets for various events can be sold.

He said that with the redevelopment of the Dorset County Museum, which has just been awarded £10.3million of funding, and the plans for the Shire Hall, Dorchester was set to welcome even more visitors in the future and it was crucial that they were catered for and provided with information about other attractions in the town and local area.

West Dorset District Council leader Anthony Alford has encouraged residents to get involved in the review and stressed the views of users and key partners will be taken into account.

He added that the council was faced with making ‘tough decisions’ as it was faced with £9million a year less funding in 2020 compared to what it enjoyed in 2010.

A decision on the TICs is expected by January of next year.

To contribute to the review visit dorsetforyou.com/consultation