ALARM bells are ringing in Corbridge after Tourist Information Centre staff were instructed to pack up their stock so it can be shipped back to County Hall.

Three quarters of the goods on sale at the popular centre, which doubles as a library on Hill Street, are expected to go as part of the latest cutbacks announced by Active Northumberland.

Services provided by the council’s charitable leisure arm, including the mobile library service, are being reviewed as part of attempts to make savings of £3.5m over the next two years.

Shelves full of souvenirs and gifts with links to the county look set to be a thing of the past with just books and maps remaining on sale.

Corbridge parish councillor and regular library user, Coun. David Walton, said: “This looks as though it’s just another round of reductions to frontline services.

“I’ve been told there’ll be a reduction in what is being sold of about 75 per cent.

“Corbridge is a very busy tourist information centre, which is open six days a week during the summer.

“Leaving them with a few leaflets and post cards just isn’t right.”

A spokeswoman for Northumberland County Council said only seven per cent of tourists who visit the county now use a TIC with the majority of information being sourced online.

“It was agreed in March that retail goods at tourist information sites would be reduced or removed over the next 12 months and alternative methods of providing those services developed.

“Retail goods are a nice feature of TICs, but they are not always economically viable.

“The space will be reconfigured and customers will have more room to browse a wider range of visitor literature.”

It follows the sudden closure and relocation of Hexham Tourist Information Centre in May. The abandoned building, which is currently on the market, remains one of the first things to greet many visitors as they arrive in the town.

Hexham’s new “visitor information service” – a few leaflets in a corner of the town’s library in the Queen’s Hall – is due to form part of a proposed one-stop shop for residents and visitors.

The scaled-down service has remained throughout the summer. The council says it is still working closely with the Queen’s Hall on plans to reconfigure the building.