A GROUP has been launched to save Darlington's library services.

The Friends of Darlington Libraries was formed after hundreds of people attended recent public meetings about the future of the services.

Darlington Borough Council is proposing to move the Crown Street Library to the Dolphin Centre.

The authority also plans to close the Cockerton branch and end the mobile library service.

The library in Crown Street, which opened in 1885, was given to the people of Darlington by the Pease family with a legally binding Covenant which stipulated that the building be used for educational and library purposes ‘in perpetuity’.

The friends group's aims include keeping the Crown Street and Cockerton libraries in their existing buildings and maintaining the mobile library service.

The group's inaugural public meeting will take place in the Crown Street Library on Wednesday, May 18 at 7pm.

A spokesman for the group said the meeting was an opportunity for local people to register their support and to offer suggestions and ideas.