Former visitor centre in the Cotswolds to be sold

The centre closed its doors in February after 18 years of being a visitor centre

A visitor centre in a Cotswolds village is to be closed and sold, the district council has agreed.

The facility, in Bourton-on-the-Water, has not been funded by the authority since December.

The building was converted from public toilets into a visitors centre in 1996 and is expected to be sold for around £240,000.

The council has decided to sell the property because keeping it "would hold no strategic benefit" according to a cabinet paper because "it does not own any adjacent land or buildings".

Money from the sale will go into the capital receipts reserve and be used to fund future capital expenditure.

The council has struggled to balance the budget in recent years.

As a result of the sale the council will have to adjust the budget to account for the loss of £8,000 per annum of rental income.

The Visitor Information Centre also played a role last year in helping run a booking system for coaches when parking became limited in the village - an issue which remains unresolved.

Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance Mike Evemy said: "We haven't identified any strategic use for it, for us as a council - we don't own any adjacent land or buildings, so the recommendation is that we should sell the property."