The Tourist Information Centre (TIC) in Stroud is shutting down.

Councillors on Stroud District Council decided to close the TIC last week ahead of it losing its home in the box office of the Subscription Rooms.

The district council is currently in negotiations with Stroud Town Council to keep the Sub Rooms in public hands, but the latter has not included the TIC in its plans for the 19th century building.

Three permanent staff work at the TIC - and all are now out of a job after district councillors voted to close down the TIC at a meeting on Thursday.

Councillors could have relocated the centre - and staff - to a new building, but they chose instead to use the savings from closure to help individual towns set up centres.

Closure of the TIC comes amid wider reflection on the state of tourist information provision in the Stroud district.

Cllr Gordon Craig had presented a report to his colleagues that found a lack of overall strategic direction for such provision, in particular describing the choice of the area's industrial heritage as its unique selling point as "badly judged".

He instead called for greater emphasis on the River Severn and the area's Viking past.

He also suggested towns and parishes were an "untapped" resource for providing tourist information themselves, pointing to the example set by Nailsworth, which guides tourists from its town information centre.

Stroud Town Council, which wants to turn the TIC space into a bar or cafe when it gets ownership of the Subs, could follow suit, and is considering a Stroud-specific centre at the train station.

A spokesperson for Stroud Town Council said: “The TIC is currently in the Subscription Rooms but will need to be moved when the building is transferred to Town Council ownership and the business is taken over by Stroud Subscription Rooms Trust.

“The Charity Commission has advised the Trust that, under charity regulations, it would not be permitted to run the TIC.”

A spokesperson for Stroud District Council said: “Stroud Town Council did not include provision for a TIC in its bid to take over Stroud Subscription Rooms.

“Stroud District Council is proposing making £14,000-worth of grants to town councils including Stroud Town Council, to boost plans for developing more local TICs. It is hoped that the Town Council will make the most of this opportunity.

“Tourism websites and online booking have reduced demand for this kind of district-wide TIC currently in place.

“Stroud District Council is a self-financing council and has to make savings to balance the books. The loss of any posts is taken very seriously and those staff affected have been fully consulted.”