TOURIST promotion staff in Kent have fired an angry parting shot after being told that their office is to close after 30 years with the loss of 20 jobs.

Tourism South East’s office in The Old Brew House, Tunbridge Wells, which has been the hub of tourism promotion in Kent, East and West Sussex and Surrey since the 1970s, is due to close its doors on March 31.

The closure follows a government shake-up of regional tourism promotion that merged the Southern and South East England Tourist Boards and created a new head office in Eastleigh, Hampshire.

But the Tunbridge Wells staff issued a press statement entitled “South East England Loses Dedicated Tourism Voice - Yet Another Blow for Local Tourism" that appeared to condemn the decision.

Such strong language is unusual in the world of public relations spin, suggesting staff might have issued it without the full authority of their bosses in Eastleigh.

A TSE spokeswoman in Eastleigh said that the agency was setting up six new sub-regional offices and one would be in Kent. “We are in the process of deciding where in Kent the sub-regional office will be based,” she said.

She added that all staff had been offered the opportunity to “relocate” or work in the sub-regional offices. She also thought some staff would stay on in the Tunbridge Wells office for a few months.

No one was available for comment at the Tunbridge Wells office.