A MINEHEAD businesswoman is launching an unofficial visitor information centre in a bid to protect the town's vital tourism industry.

Lesley Culverhouse, who runs The Reading Room in Friday Street, says she feels so strongly about the closure of Minehead's seafront visitor centre at the end of October that she intends to try to fill the gap by offering a range of services.

The move has a tinge of irony since Ms Culverhouse's business is run from the retail outlet that was the official tourist information centre until three years ago when the service was transferred to the new state-of-the-art, purpose built seafront facility.

West Somerset Council, which owns the new visitor centre, publicly confirmed just a fortnight ago that the doors would close on October 31 after previously declaring it could not afford the annual £40,000 cost of running the facility.

It is calling the closure temporary but as yet has no firm plans on how the centre will be reopened after three bids to take over its running failed to come to fruition.

Ms Culverhouse offered to run the service from her premises when the council first invited bids earlier this year.

She maintains she was told that the lack of parking made it an unfeasible proposal - which the council denies - and that it would not be worth her while to submit a formal business plan.

But she says she has decided to press ahead and try to offer a service "as best I can" because Minehead's tourism industry is too important.

"I was born in this town and I feel that it is being short-changed," she said.

"I actually believe that visitors should be able to walk into any shop in Minehead and get information - it's all about ownership, but that's another issue.

"But I also feel that a town like this cannot be left without somewhere that people can call into."

When the seafront centre closes, all telephone and email enquiries will be diverted to Porlock Visitor Centre, which is open two and a half hours on weekdays and four hours on Saturdays.

The sale of coach tickets for National Express, Berry's Coaches and Firstbus will be transferred to the council's customer service centre in Summerland Road, Minehead.

But Ms Culverhouse hopes that in addition to stocking a range of tourism leaflets and literature, she will also be able to take on bed bookings for local accommodation providers and have walkers' maps available, as well as other information.

And she is making a plea for hoteliers and guest house and bed and breakfast owners to contact her.

"I really hope the local tourism providers and outlets will support me," she said.

"I've already taken on the sale of a variety of charity Christmas cards, which is something the visitor centre always did, because a number of local organisations were worried about the situation."

Ms Culverhouse has told both the district council and Minehead Town Council about her plans.

"I'm not asking or expecting anything from them but their support would be welcome," she said.

"I'm doing this on a shoestring and any help would be much appreciated."

She is currently appealing for donations of bookcases to allow her to section off The Reading Room, which already houses an internet café and sells second hand books, local arts and crafts and light refreshments.

In a statement issued this week district council spokesman Stacey Beaumont said: "We welcome the assistance of The Reading Room in complementing the arrangements we have in place with Porlock Visitor Centre, our customer centre in Minehead and Minehead Town Council in covering the temporary closure of Minehead VIIC."

Ms Beaumont said a representative of the authority's visitor information centre review group - which includes council officers and members - had phoned Ms Culverhouse and then sent her an email on July 7 confirming that the group had considered The Reading Room's original expression of interest.

"It was explained that the group decided not to progress the bid because it did not provide the level of service required for long-term service delivery, not because of lack of parking."

Ms Beaumont said Ms Culverhouse had confirmed that she was happy for her details to be passed to the other two bidders to give them the opportunity of working with her in taking forward their bids.

"This is the first we have heard of any complaint about the bid process since Ms Culverhouse was contacted with the outcome of her bid in early July.

"If she would like further information or feedback, we are happy to provide this."

Ms Beaumont said the review group was currently working hard on options for a sustainable long-term solution to the temporary closure of the seafront centre.

The unofficial visitor centre will open its doors for the first time on November 1 and, like the other facilities run from The Reading Room, will open six days a week - not Sundays - from 10am to 4pm.

Photo: Steve Guscott