A LECHLADE councillor has said she will fight against a decision by Gloucestershire County Council to close the town’s library in a bid to save £1.8 million.

The library is one of seven across the county that have been earmarked for closure unless volunteers agree to take responsibility for running the services.

Lechlade and district councillor Sue Coakely said the decision was hugely disappointing and an unfair burden on the town, which already had to contend with poor bus services and limited information points for the public.

Cllr Coakely, chairman of Lechlade library working group, said: “What’s really galling is that officers have said we can go to Highworth for library services. But we expect our services to be provided by the council that we pay our council tax to.”

A further bone of contention for the councillor is that the funding cuts appear to be based on "unfair" information. The report states the Fairford library catchment area is twice the size of Lechlade’s, despite the towns being similar in population.

She said that the town could have enough volunteers to keep a community library running but maintaining the GCC owned building was a “worry.”

She added that the working group would be fighting their corner for funding and hoped to meet with county council officers over the next few weeks.

In November last year, GCC’s plans to overhaul the library service, which involved closing several libraries across the county and reducing opening hours at many others, were ruled unlawful by the High Court.

Lechlade Mayor, Cllr Christine Eatwell, said that after the High Court decision she thought the battle for library funding had been won, but the new ‘Big Community Offer’ was a real blow and not a sensible alternative.

As part of a new draft strategy, GCC proposes to end funding for seven libraries as part of a 'Big Community Offer’ programme.

The revised plan, which is set to save the taxpayer £800,000, involves a tiered network of libraries across the county, with a number of libraries run in partnership with their local communities.

Along with a further £1 million of cuts to “back office staff”, the total reduction to the county’s library budget would be £1.8 million.

A six-week public consultation on the proposals is set to begin on January 30, subject to approval by the cabinet of GCC.

Johanna Anderson, Friends of Gloucestershire Libraries chairman, said she was very concerned at how quickly the revised plan came out and added that their lawyers would be scrutinising the new strategy.

GCC leader Cllr Mark Hawthorne said residents’ needs were taken into account in drafting the new strategy.

"I think these are exciting proposals which maximise the resources we have available while giving communities more say in the services they receive," he added.