Not many people use the visitor information service at Hove and most of those who do are locals looking up bus times.

So it is scarcely surprising that Brighton and Hove Council, looking for ways to save money, is seeking to close it and install a 24-hour electronic service instead.

The closure does raise the wider question of what to do with this prominent part of the town hall which never looked all that lively even as a visitor centre.

Perhaps the council could revitalise it as a one-stop shop point for services it offers to people in Hove.

Otherwise, local people may feel, with some justification, that many services are slowly slipping away into neighbouring Brighton when Hove is big enough to warrant attention on its own.