The Chilterns Gateway Centre has opened on Dunstable Downs, Bedfordshire’s highest point, to serve as a visitor centre for the 400,000 people the area attracts each year.

The site is popular with people interested in flying kites and gliders, who previously had to rely on basic visitor facilities.

“Dunstable Downs can at last boast visitor facilities fit for the 21st century,” said Philip Broadbent -Yale, Area Manager for the National Trust. “If you’ve never set foot on the Downs before, then now’s the time to come along and discover what you’ve been missing – the views from inside the Gateway Centre are stunning.”

The centre, opened by television presenter Michaela Strachan, has panoramic views of the Downs, a café, a gift shop, toilets and a new parking area.

Bob King, Bedfordshire County Council Cabinet Member for Community Services, added: “We are delighted that the doors to Chilterns Gateway Centre are open and that local people and visitors from further afield can now enjoy the first-class facilities that this regionally important site so deserves.”

The facility – which was designed by Architype and built by Haymills under the project management of Hannah Reed – was paid for by funding from various sources including the Department for Communities and Local Government (£1.5m) and a partnership led by Bedfordshire County Council and The National Trust, which secured £100,000 funding from a range of parties, including the Chilterns Conservation Board, the Heritage Lottery Fund, DTI Clear Skies and the Big Lottery Fund.

With new funding of £600,000 recently secured from the East of England Development Agency, the partnership is now preparing to implement interpretations on the history and importance of the area and create a network of walking, cycling and riding routes.