'Collaborative' hub set to enhance and promote county's tourism

Discover Northamptonshire has opened at Rushden Lakes

A visitor attraction hopes a new £245,000 tourism hub for Northamptonshire will mean organisations work together to increase footfall.

Discover Northamptonshire opened earlier this week at retail and leisure complex Rushden Lakes.

It aims to show what the area has to offer to visitors alongside travel and accommodation information.

Pip Jeyes, of Jeyes of Earls Barton, said she hoped the hub would "get all organisations talking".

Pip Jeyes said she was speaking to other attractions about how they can work together

The hub is a partnership between North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire councils, funded by the government's UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

It features interactive screens with information on attractions, how to get there and the cost, alongside a retail space for local businesses.

As well as bringing new visitors to the county it hopes to keep some of Rushden Lakes' six million annual visitors in Northamptonshire for longer.

The hub will be open seven days a week and there are plans for a second one in the west of the county

Ms Jeyes, who helps run the museum and tea room in the Northamptonshire village, said she would "love an increase in footfall" from the new hub.

She said she hoped the hub would lead attractions to "collaborate, promote each other and get people working together".

Jack Pishhorn, from North Northamptonshire Council, said the authority and West Northamptonshire Council were working on a "tourism strategy".

He said Discover Northamptonshire would work with other tourism organisations in the area, such as Destination Nene Valley and Visit England, to "promote this county together".