A LONG-SERVING tourism manager for Wallingford has been replaced.

Mayor Ros Lester thanked Kate Rayner for services to the town but said she had left for personal reasons.

A new market town coordinator, Claire Blacker, has now been appointed.

Mrs Lester said it was important to make a quick appointment to replace Ms Rayner as attracting tourists was vital to the town.

She added: "I was very pleased with the work Kate did over the past four years to promote the town of Wallingford – she did a brilliant job.

"Kate worked three days a week for us and did an excellent job of promoting the town and has now decided to move on and work for herself as a freelance marketing adviser."

During her tenure, Ms Rayner put together the Wallingford Experience brochure for visitors, the town diary of events and worked with Town Team Co-ordinator Iain Nicholson to promote the town's pop-up shops scheme.

Mrs Lester added: "Promoting Wallingford as a tourist attraction is a priority for us so we have now appointed Claire Blacker and she will start at the end of the month.

"Wallingford is a small market town and we need to do everything we can to bring in as many people as possible, both shoppers and tourists."

Ms Lester said Ms Blacker would work for the town council and South Oxfordshire District Council, with the two local authorities sharing the cost.

She added: "Claire will also work for us as our market town coordinator on part-time basis."

Ms Rayner helped to promote Wallingford's connections with crime fiction and Ms Blacker will asked to do the same.

Best-selling crime novelist Agatha Christie lived in Winterbrook House from 1934 until her death in 1975 and scenes from the TV detective drama Midsomer Murders have been filmed in the area.

Mrs Lester added: "At the moment we get coachloads of tourists coming to Wallingford because of its crime fiction connections but they don't stay as long as we would like.

"Some of them get off in the Market Place, have a look at the Corn Exchange and then get back on the coach again.

"We want to persuade them to stay for longer so that they visits the pubs and restaurants, stay overnight and spend more money in the town."

SODC's Visit Midsomer website encourages tourists to come to the area and find out more about the South Oxfordshire villages where Midsomer Murders is filmed.

Wallingford Museum curator Judy Dewey, who has helped to organise an annual festival celebrating Agatha Christie, said earlier she would like a website to be developed to attract Christie fans from around the globe.

Ms Rayner has confirmed she is no longer Wallingford's market town coordinator.