A VETERAN councillor has put forward a possible solution to keep a tourism office open – ask hotels to staff it.

Long-serving Conservative Cllr Sir Ron Watson suggested Southport’s hotels could second staff on a voluntary basis.

The closure of the information hub is one of the options being considered as Sefton Council looks for ways to save £20.5m from next year’s budget. Another alternative is to close down the entire service, a move which would put much-loved events such as the Southport Air Show in jeopardy.

Tourism in the borough is worth more than £400m and supports 5,000 jobs.

Sir Ron said: “We have got to radically look at the way the council operates. We do not want to start having to make decisions in a limited sense on what is the single, most important industry in our town.”

Judith Wynn, of the Southport Hoteliers Association, said: “If there was a way, I would like to see the tourism office kept open, but the public and private sector are already working together and there are only so many hours in the day.

“If we have to pool resources, then that is already an idea people are coming round to.”