BOSSES are to close a tourist information centre at one of the region's most popular visitor attractions - after admitting it was built in the wrong place.

The committee that runs Beamish Museum, near Stanley, County Durham, is to shut the information centre and replace it with an unmanned, electronic information booth. The move will not mean any redundancies.

It follows a highly critical report by officers from Durham County Council, which paid for the centre.

The report states: "The current tourist information centre operation is ineffective and does not deliver good value for money.

"This is mainly due to the fact that, although Beamish still attracts significant numbers of tourists, the tourist information centre is not located on the main visitor route."

The centre, set up in July 1991, aimed to capitalise on the 325,000 visitors from outside the region that Beamish attracts each year, in order to boost tourism receipts elsewhere in the county.

It was always meant to be self-sufficient, by generating enough tourist bookings to other attractions and accommodation.

But its location off the beaten track at the open air museum meant it never took off.

Durham County Council has covered the shortfall in operating costs, but this has risen from £8,107 in 2000 to more than £10,500 last year.

Since the turn of the century, the centre has also seen a decline in the number of bookings made through it, while operating costs have risen.

In 2000, staff dealt with 5,402 inquiries and made 199 bookings, generating £1,835 in income.

By last year, inquiries had dropped to 3,878, only 167 bookings were made through the centre and it only drew £931 in business.

Miriam Harte, museum director, said: "The main issue is location. The centre is not on the main user route - it is physically in the wrong place.

"The museum already works closely with local accommodation providers and nobody locally is going to lose out.

"We are not closing the door. If we can find a way of putting the tourist information centre in the right location, with the right impact, then we will discuss with Durham County Council how to do so."