PLANS to continue a tourist service in a rural market town are in disarray as the leading members of a volunteer led group behind the scheme resign.

Hambleton District Council wants to close the current Tourist Information Centre, in Thirsk, as part of a cost cutting exercise.

Locals fear that without the Market Place-based venture, which attracts 55,000 people yearly, the town will suffer and so they set up a steering group to retain it.

The group and council worked together and the district authority offered funds to help create a new service.

The Market Place’s public toilets were to be converted into a tourist information point which would be open on April 1 for the coming season.

Thirsk Town Council heard that the volunteer group had four directors leading it and that earlier this week two of them, Ted Naisbitt and Margaret Wooldridge, had resigned due to personal reasons.

The other two directors, Peter Rush and Denise Sparks, the town council heard, felt they could not carry on alone and had told this to the district council.

Ted Naisbitt, one of the steering group’s directors, said: "We put forward a viable business plan to the district council and had a meeting on how to take it forward.

"The result of the meeting was that it would be far too great a time commitment for us. We are just volunteers and there is no-one to form a management structure to run it.

"The district council has done its best to help us. They have a viable business plan and it could work with whoever is prepared to step into the breach.

"I think the time has come where the people who will benefit from this in the town to step forward and provide a management structure for it."

Dave McGloin, an assistant director of the district council, said he hoped the scheme could still be salvaged.

He said: "I believe some of the leading volunteers have had second thoughts.

"We are arranging to meet with the others who we think are still interested in creating the tourism point to see what help we can offer.

"Our offers in terms of £6,300 of funding to help them start up and other aid have not changed.

"I spoke to the volunteers last week and they seemed fine and so I’m a bit surprised at the change of mind. I hoping that there are still sufficient people in Thirsk who can help to make this happen."

The district councilhopes the plans for the conversion of the toilet block will go before its development control committee on February 3.

Many of the other volunteers are unhappy at the resignations and they are keen to see the group create new directors to take the scheme forward.

Volunteer Mo Penson said: "We were told they had resigned and I’m absolutely appalled at it.

"If the volunteers had known that the directors were going to resign then something may have been put together."