CHURCH Library is threatened with closure in a desperate attempt by Lancashire County Council to claw back a £14M budget overspend.

The library on Library Street, Church, is the only one in Hyndburn facing closure in a measure which will shut down nine across the county.

Lancashire County council hope to save £21,666 a year by closing the service which they say is too small and underused to be a viable public service. A decision will be made in February and if given the go-ahead, the library will close as soon as May.

Councillor Jean Battle, who is a cabinet member for Lancashire County Council and a ward councillor for Church, said: "There is a great possibility of it closing as it is the worst performing library in the county.

"It's very sad but the public are just not using the library, I wish the people of Church used the library but unfortunately if you don't use it, you lose it."

Over the last 10 years the library has seen a sharp decline in use with a 43 per cent drop in the number of registered borrowers to 506 with only 269 people classed as regular active borrowers.

Councillor Battle added: "The county council is in the process of budgeting and because it has always funded schools over and above the amount given by central government, Westminster has now decided to cut their level of funding so we need to save £14 million this year and next year to balance the books."

County Councillor Chris Cheetham, Cabinet member for Adult and Community Services, said: "This year's budget will be particularly difficult for the council and Cabinet members have been asked to find significant savings to limit any increase in council tax.

"Closing a library is never an easy option but it is something I am having to consider due to the level of financial pressure. The libraries, which may be affected, are small and on average only open 14 hours a week, employing a single member of staff.

"The majority of people who currently have these libraries will have another, better facility within two miles, as these libraries are only open for a few hours a week a lot of resources are wasted while they are closed and locked.

"The small size of the buildings and lack of facilities also means they are unsuitable for running a modern service, there is no question of staff being made redundant, every effort will be made to offer those affected another job within the library service using the council's redeployment process."