The Wycombe district’s tourist information centres are set to merge with the library service in a bid to save taxpayers hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Wycombe District Council will pay Bucks County Council Library Services to run the information service, which has centres in High Wycombe, Marlow and Princes Risborough, from April 1.

The move could save the district council around £200,000 over the length of the initial five-year agreement.

While the three centres have already moved from their own buildings into their town libraries over the years, they have, until now, retained separate service points with their own dedicated staff.

Wycombe District Council says the merger will provide an “improved customer experience” with one team dealing with checking out books and DVDs, answer questions about council services and give advice to visitors about places to visit in the Wycombe district.

Wycombe District Council’s cabinet member for community, cllr Julia Adey, said: “Residents will benefit from an improved experience, with a single team able to deliver all three services throughout the duration of the libraries’ opening hours.

“The full integration of the services not only saves taxpayers money but means people will conveniently be able to approach a single member of staff for advice about council services, such as benefits or council tax, find out what events are going on at the weekend and take a book out at the same time.”

Margaret Aston, cabinet member for community engagement at Bucks County Council, said joining up the services makes “absolute sense” and would save taxpayers “big sums of money” whilst also bringing in more money for the county council.

She said: “This is an important milestone in our plans to make Buckinghamshire’s libraries the focal points of their communities – while also ensuring they are more financially sustainable.”