AN IMPASSIONED fight to save Darlington’s Crown Street library was lost last night as councillors voted through a multi-million pound raft of cuts.

The battle to save the historic library was defeated at the end of a tense debate as part of a swathe of cutbacks to public services.

Protestors had gathered outside Darlington’s Town Hall and packed its public gallery in an eleventh-hour bid to sway the decision.

However, with the chants of campaigners echoing through the chambers, the majority of Labour members put their weight behind £12.5m of cuts that critics believe will dramatically change the face of the town forever.

In opposition, Conservative members abstained from every named vote, helping the ruling party to carry the proposals.

In the midst of the heated exchanges, less than 50 councillors finalised the authority’s Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP), which will see millions wiped from the town’s budget.

The result strips significant funding from charities, resources and services and sees Darlington left with a reduced budget for statutory services and little to support non-statutory services.

Ramifications are wide-ranging and include the closure of the historic Crown Street Library and the transfer of its resources to the Dolphin Centre, a particularly contentious move opposed by thousands of campaigners.

Amendments submitted by Liberal Democrat councillors to defer the decision on Crown Street were voted down, though a decision to delay the closure of Cockerton Library was passed.

The town’s mobile library will also close as a result of the cuts.

Before abstaining from a vote on the issue, Tory councillor Ian Galletley told Cllr Nick Wallis, cabinet member for leisure and local environment, that the decision to close Crown Street could prove his ‘political epitaph’.

He said: “The town has asked for more time and if you vote to close the library tonight, you will have people who will permanently hate you.

“They will not forgive you – let us hope your plans are right because, if they’re not, they’ll be your political epitaph.”

As dramatic cuts to street cleaning services were ushered through, the chamber heard that volunteers and criminals doing community service would be relied upon to keep the town tidy.

Cllr Nick Wallis said: “Everyone in the town will have to get used to the council being a different beast.

“We will no longer be doing everything for everyone.

“We will be an enabling authority.”

Before voting to axe funding to services and charities across the town, the chamber heard that the third sector and volunteers would have to work hard to fill gaps left following implementation of the hated MTFP.

Before the final vote that cemented the devastating plan, leader of the council Bill Dixon blamed central government for leaving the authority with no choice but to cut services.

He said the viability of the budget plans could be threatened by further potential Government changes, adding: “This is absolutely horrendous - nobody in this room wants to cut services and the budget we hope to implement is full of risks.

“This budget is not what we want, but it is the best chance we have got to provide services for the most vulnerable people in our community and protecting them is important.”

To read the council’s budget proposals in full click here http://www.darlington.gov.uk/microsites/budget-2016-home/