TOURISM chiefs have urged businesses to speak out in a bid to save South Lakeland's threatened tourist information centres.

Cumbria Tourist Board's chief executive called for concerned members to join the debate sparked by the Lake District National Park Authority's controversial decision to axe a number of the centres earlier this year - at the organisation's annual meeting on Tuesday.

Ian Stephens fears Cumbria will be put at a disadvantage if further centres are forced to close.

"TICs are important. They generate millions by providing accommodation booking facilities and they also provide inspiration and a wealth of information," he said. "They are the shop window for tourism in Cumbria. If we don't have them, other destinations that do have them will have a competitive advantage."

He added that he wanted businesspeople and accommodation providers to let him know how much the service - which deals with more than four million inquiries and generates around £42 million worth of business for Cumbria each year - means to them.

TICs at Seatoller, Waterhead and Pooley Bridge were closed by the LDNPA one of 13 different operators including district and town councils - at the beginning of this year because of acute budget problems.

Also at the annual conference, Mr Stephens said better traffic management and car parking were urgently needed to improve the visitor experience. "More needs to happen - especially with bad traffic management and improved car parking - so we can encourage people to get out of the car and spend in the shops and cafes," he said.

Viscountess Penelope Cobham added that VisitBritain - the country's principle tourism body of which she is deputy chair would only be promoting quality accommodation in a bid to double visitor spending by the year 2015.

David Brockbank, the Staveley man behind the Morecambe Bay bridge plans, agreed change was needed to achieve this.

"We (Britain) are in danger of becoming the poor man of Europe," he said. "If we are going to double our industry in the next ten years we are going to need some major changes."

He told the meeting increasing prices and the number of people paying those prices was the way to generate more money.

As well as voting well-known presenter Eric Robson back in as chairman, members at the meeting expressed their delight that Hollywood actress Renee Zellweger would be coming to the lakes when filming for the new Beatrix Potter film starts next year.

They also heard that the board's own turnover (£4.8million) was half-a-million pounds down on last year but that public funding this year had gone up by a whopping 354 per cent. Next June the company will move its headquarters to purpose-built premises in Staveley.