Visit York is expected to cut up to 12 posts in 2012

The company responsible for attracting visitors to York has confirmed it expects to shed jobs next year.

Visit York will lose £300,000 from the regional development agency, Yorkshire Forward, when it ceases to operate in April 2012.

The organisation is run as a limited company with a current trading income of £2.3m and employs 40 people.

Visit York's chief executive Gillian Crudass said the loss of funding meant 12 posts would be under threat.

Mrs Crudass said they had been consulting with staff for several months in order to restructure the business.

She said: "We've come to a position where we know that we have got to look at several roles being at risk of redundancy."

Visit York also receives a grant of almost £300,000 from the City of York Council but it said that grant was likely to be maintained in 2012.

The organisation receives 25,000 telephone calls each year and Mrs Crudass said they might have to consider charging for calls to cover the cost of call-centre staff.

She said: "Other cities do it. We're not planning to do it tomorrow, but it might be one of the things we have to look at."