CALLS have been made for a prominent building on Dunbar High Street to be better utilised.

The historic Dunbar Town House – built towards the end of the 16th century – is used for art exhibitions, as well as community council meetings.

However, calls have been made for the building – which houses the town’s tourist information centre – to be open more often, for the benefit of locals and visitors alike.

Steven Hill, chairman of Dunbar Trades’ Association, was among those leading the calls.

Currently, the building is open between 1pm and 5pm from April to October.

The rest of the year, the building is open from 9am to 5pm, but only if a member of staff is present.

He said: “I’ve been on at East Lothian Council to open the building for longer. The current hours put an inordinate amount of stress on local businesses to provide tourist information. I would like to see it better used. The number of visitors Dunbar is getting is increasing all the time.

“With the John Muir Way, East Links Family Park and the swimming pool, you’ve got some major attractions.” Mr Hill highlighted that visitors came into his shop at 9am asking about a tourist information centre, only to be told it did not open until 1pm.

Alternatively, anyone arriving after 5pm and looking for somewhere to stay was again without a tourist information office.

Mr Hill suggested opening the building for longer in the summer, with the possibility of the building being open but unmanned during the winter.

The issue was also raised at the town’s community council meeting last month, which was held in the Town House.

Sue Anderson, one of the community councillors, also felt more could be done with the building.

She said: “Making best use of the Town House is something I think we should very much explore in more depth.” A spokeswoman for East Lothian Council was pleased the building was “so well appreciated”.

She said: “Both the Town House and John Muir’s Birthplace offer tourist information and toilet facilities as well as their museum service. There are also public toilets near the leisure pool at the end of High Street.

“To open the Town House more than it is currently would mean we’d need to find more staffing budget, which is unlikely in the current economic climate.

“But we have extended an offer to discuss this further with local groups including the trades’ association and community council and we’d be delighted to discuss any alternative solutions.

“We are unable to open the building without a member of staff present as, due to the layout of the building and its historical significance, this would give unsupervised access to other parts of the building.”