THE town council has agreed to extend its support for the Taunton Visitor Centre for another financial year.

At this month’s meeting ff the full council, members agreed to support the extension of the Service Level Agreement for the centre for the next financial year 2025-2026.

Members agreed to the recommendation from the Community and Place Committee to support the extension of the Service Level Agreement for Taunton Visitor Centre for the next financial year 2025-2026.

Councillor Tom Deakin, leader of the town council said: “I’m delighted that we have committed to extending our support for the information centre for an additional year.

“This decision was taken on the basis that the facility provides value to the community and visitors alike.

“To not have this type of service in any large town, but particularly the County Town would be less than ideal.

“We know that Taunton receives regular visitors, bringing valuable spending power to local businesses and often their first point of contact is in person, with the staff at the centre.

“Add to that the benefit to residents who can book tickets and coaches and find out other helpful information, in person, particularly where they may not be digitally confident and it’s clear that the service must continue.”

Somerset Council withdrew support for Tourist Information facilities county-wide as part of its ongoing Financial Emergency in February 2024.

At the February 2024 meeting of full council, Taunton Town Council agreed that as a valuable asset to the town, it was appropriate to subsidise this service for 2024/25.

This included a cost of £114,000 for the Tourist Information Centre.