‘WE’RE not mugs’ is the message from Darlington residents who gave an unusual gift to council members in protest of proposed changes to library services.

At a recent meeting of Darlington Borough Council’s cabinet, seven mugs were presented to councillors by campaigners desperate to safeguard the future of the historic Crown Street Library.

The mugs were handed over on the same evening that cabinet members approved a raft of contentious recommendations in relation to changes to the town’s library services.

On Thursday, January 26, DBC’s full council will meet to vote on those recommendations, which could see the Crown Street Library – gifted to the town by Quaker Edward Pease - closed forever and most of its resources moved to the Dolphin Centre.

The mugs, one for each cabinet member, boast an image of the library and the messages “Edward’s Gift – Our Library” and “Stop Mugging Us Off”.

They were accompanied by a short note calling on councillors to keep Crown Street Library for the benefit of future generations.

A spokesperson for the residents said: “We decided to present the cabinet members with a free gift as a symbolic gesture, because the Cabinet don’t seem to value what they were given by Edward Pease, or even understand the value of libraries.

“They’ve just said the Crown Street library belongs in the Victorian age. But we’re not mugs.”

The meeting of the full council will take place at Darlington town hall from 6pm on Thursday, January 26.