A new £200,000 tourist information centre in Oxford should be open for business by next Easter.

City councillors are determined to provide a better service for the thousands of tourists who flock to the city, spending £250m a year.

One key measure, which has been approved by the employment and economic development committee, is to move the centre from its base in Gloucester Green to a new location in Broad Street.

The present centre shares an entrance with a pub, The Old School House, and it is hoped that the new centre in Broad Street would help tourists in a street which is often their first port of call.

At a meeting on Wednesday, councillors agreed to spend £50,000 immediately to start to convert the former building society premises at 15-16 Broad Street. The remaining £150,000 worth of funding will be available in October.

A new tourist information centre is a key measure for improving the welcome given to tourists, together with the provision of more cheap accommodation.

Research revealed last year that more than 80 per cent of tourists were day-trippers.

The council's Economic strategy manager Val Johnson said: "We want tourists who come to Oxford to stay longer.

"Providing them with a better tourist information centre is one important step towards that.

"We want to be able to open by Easter when the next tourist season starts. Broad Street is a good location because it is where most tourists start out.

"We also want to encourage them to visit lots of different parts of the city, not just the colleges, so that they spend more."