Efforts to attract tourists to Worcester will be taken back under the control of the city council in March.

Councillors at the Guildhall’s Policy and Resources Committee agreed to the proposals that when the contract to run the city’s tourism efforts, including the information centre runs out next year the council itself will take responsibility.

Currently the service is provided under contract by Herefordshire and Worcestershire Chamber of Commerce, which took it over in 2013.

Council officer Helen Mole said that the city taking responsibility for the service will allow greater promotion of the city itself.

She said: “The tourism contract is to run the tourist information centre and also visit Worcester marketing. If the council takes the service back in house it will be able to concentrate more on promotion a visit Worcester, which has been rather lost in a wider Visit Worcestershire effort.

“We’ll reintroduce it along with Worcester Business Improvement District and launch a new website in Spring.”

The five staff at the TIC at the Guild hall will be transferred to the employment of the city council under TUPE legislation but Ms Mole said that bringing the service back in-house would save the council £30,000. At the moment it pays £80,000 per year for the service, and officers believe it can be de delivered for £50,000.

Councillor Simon Geraghty expressed doubt at this and said: “I wonder whether you have properly reflected the management overhead which will be needed. At the moment the service works well, and £30,000 seems to be a lot to take out. I don’t want to support an option that doesn’t deliver what we want it to.”

Councillor Chris Mitchell urged that from March the TIC should open on both Saturday and Sunday and Ms Mole responded that the plan was to open on both days in the main tourist season, from Easter onward.

Chief Executive of the city council, David Blake said: “We are not doing this to save money, this is not a driver for this.”