POTENTIAL ways of saving the failed Skipton Tourist Information Centre will be discussed at a meeting hosted by the chamber of trade next week.

The privately run company was placed in the hands of receivers this week as it was unable to keep up with the huge running costs of its town centre site.

The closure has hit seven part-time staff and one volunteer. The news was broken to them at the close of business on Friday.

Director Robin Moule said: "That was the most awful thing I have ever had to do. Staff were not surprised because they were aware of the problems.

"We pulled the plug on the enterprise because we felt enough was enough.

"Our main problem is that we have not had the support from the people for whom we provide a free service - people in the tourist industry."

President of Skipton's Chamber of Trade Anne Hadaway said it was unthinkable that a tourist town like Skipton was without a TIC.

"Tourism is one of the biggest incomes in Skipton. I think it is vital that we have a TIC, we could not consider the town without one," she told the Herald.

She added that having a TIC in the town affected most of the chamber's members but they had been unaware of how difficult business had been for the centre's owners The Jackson Partnership.

"I think a lot of members were shocked, it is a bolt out of the blue," said Mrs Hadaway.

The TIC was one of the first in the country to be commercially run having been taken over from Skipton Town Council in 1999. Members of the Chamber of Trade questioned then the need for it to move into such high rent premises.

Mr Moule said the centre was run as a profit-making business, and, in its first year in Craven Court, it had suffered "substantial" losses. Much of its information was provided free to the public.

The business could not be sustained because of high overheads and operational costs. "Substantial losses have been incurred by the directors," added Mr Moule.

He praised Skipton Building Society, which had recently struck a three-year partnership with the TIC, and Skipton Town Council which had supplied cash support.

The TIC had to meet £140,000 annual running costs after vacating its former base in Sheep Street.

Mr Moule said the closure was even more frustrating because, since taking over, they had increased the numbers of people visiting the centre from 90,000 to 200,000.

A Yorkshire Dales National Park spokesman said: "It's sad news because Skipton is one of the key gateways to the Yorkshire Dales National Park and a vital location for passing on information about the area."

He hoped there would be early action to find an alternative centre in the town.

Yorkshire Tourist Board chief executive David Andrews said: "Of course this is not good news because TICs provide an invaluable service, not only to visitors but to the local community."

In the meantime both the Gateway in Leeds and Settle Tourist Information Centre are handling inquiries from the public.

Skipton's Chamber of Trade is leading the way to try to find a way forward in re-establishing the centre.

Mrs Hadaway said she had organised a meeting on Thursday at 7pm in The Clifford Suite, in the Black Horse for any interested parties. She hoped that between business people, and the town and district councils they would be able to come up with a solution.