'A RETROGRADE step’ to close Marlow’s information centre and move it into the library will damage the town’s vital role as a tourist hotspot, according to business leaders.

The money-saving move to close the High Street office and merge it with the library on Station Road has been criticised by Marlow Chamber of Commerce president Tim Graham.

Mr Graham said Marlow’s unique district status as a tourist magnet should be respected, and the decision is a backwards step for residents, tourists and business.

He said: "One of the issues is how to make more attractive for visitors and tourists. One of the most important things is user friendliness and ease to find your way about.

"The removal of the office will inevitably erode that user friendliness for strangers. The reduction in facilities will damage Marlow as a destination by diminishing the resources for visitors.

"It is a retrograde step. I appreciate the funding restrictions of local authorities and the business world knows that only too well, but it seems an easy hit when there are more ways that funding could be found.

"We all know that Marlow is heaving at the weekends, and its contributions to the local economy have to be recognised. It won’t be helped by removing the lifeblood for tourists in the town."

Marlow is the main beneficiary of tourism in the district, with over a million visits to the town’s council-owned car parks in 2013.

The dedicated centre, which opens six days a week and offers tourist advice and council services, moved to its current home in 2009.

The 25-year lease cost WDC £271,500 and is split with the Post Office.

Mr Graham added measures must be taken to increase services in Marlow, not remove them, with the threat of new retail developments at Handy Cross and Cressex luring visitors from the High Street.

And the town’s business leader questioned how the new multi-function library would work, and whether tourists would even think to look there for information.

But WDC leader and Marlow councillor Richard Scott has defended the decision, saying budget constraints meant that the decision had to be taken.

And he has confirmed that though the new office will close on Mondays in line with library hours, Saturday opening will be longer than at present.

He said: "There are pressures on council budgets and we have to look at all aspects, the library is very close to the current office and it seems sensible to share accommodation.

"There will be cost savings but that is not the point, it is a better way to utilise the space, and it is less than a hundred metres from the from the current office.

"The tourist centre has been in several places in the past, including court garden, so it is much closer to town than that.

"With the internet, it is not needed as much anymore, but we do feel in Risborough and Marlow there is still a need and that is why we have taken this decision."