UNION bosses have called on the Government to halt the tide of cuts to council budgets which, among a host of other services, could see libraries across Darlington close their doors for good.

The potential closure of facilities in Crown Street and in Cockerton and the ending of the mobile library service form part of plans to shave £12.5m from the authority's budget - cuts that it is feared will change the fabric of the borough forever.

However, they are just another three of the 423 libraries that have already shut across the country in the last four years.

Darlington Borough Council is proposing to create a new library in The Dolphin Centre, but many towns have been left without any service at all - a situation that the union Unite says could be illegal.

The union said that local councils have a statutory duty, enshrined in legislation stretching back to 1850, to provide ‘comprehensive and efficient’ library services and therefore could be breaking the law by closing them.

In light of this, Unite is calling on the Government to immediately reverse cuts to council budgets, which fund library services.

Fiona Farmer, Unite national officer for local government, said: “We are asking Government to keep our libraries open, reverse the council cuts, and have a fair funding formula for local authorities.

“It needs to be highlighted that local authorities have a statutory obligation to provide comprehensive library services as a quality service for communities."

An umbrella group Speak Up For Libraries is lobbying Parliament on Tuesday (February 9) and they will be joined by Unite members from Greenwich and Bromley library services who are taking industrial action at the proposed swingeing cuts to their facilities.

More than 30 members of staff are expected to be made redundant following the closure of Darlington’s libraries, although £779,000 has been allocated to remodel The Dolphin Centre to accommodate a new service.

However, some have questioned how a library service within the leisure centre can adequately replace the loss of two libraries and the mobile service which visited 90 locations across the borough and was used by around 250 people per week.

A Darlington Council spokesperson said: “Councils are obliged to provide a library service. Our proposal is to maintain a library service in the town centre, housed in the Dolphin Centre, along with the housebound library provision which will also be maintained. It is important to stress that these are proposals and are subject to consultation.”