CAMPAIGNERS fighting for Leominster's library to remain open say the community would be 'very much poorer' should the service be lost.

Under Herefordshire Council's latest cost-saving proposals, Leominster Library could be 'withdrawn' along with its associated customer services and access to public computers.

Herefordshire Council said at this stage the possibility of closure is just a proposal and are part of a broader set of questions included in the ongoing budget consultation.

But the Friends of Leominster Library (FOLL), a group dedicated to supporting and promoting Leominster Library, said it will fight for the cultural and community hub to be retained in North Herefordshire.

Jimmy Lindsay, chairman of FOLL, said: "Libraries are a real hub of the local community for people of all ages and also within the building of course there's the social services and access to computers for people who don't have computers.

"We understand absolutely there's the need to cut costs. But I do feel with Herefordshire, we are such a rural county that we have a particular need and we don't have very many large towns in which to send people."

He said the group is determined to make the council understand that Leominster Library must be kept open, whether that comes with a compromise of becoming self-service or with support from volunteers.

He said that people travelled from around the county to use Leominster Library as a reference point, and the service proved equally popular with children and adults.

"More than 100,000 people in the county use libraries and Leominster is well-used. I think they see it as a bit of a low-hanging fruit," he said.

"My feeling is that we will ultimately reach a middle ground but I think the community as a whole would be very much poorer without a library."

The proposals also affect libraries in Ross-on-Wye and Belmont while Bromyard, Kington and Ledbury would have 'self service' libraries but lose their customer services.

Hereford library and the Hereford Centre customer service hub would stay as the 'most used' facilities.

FOLL is urging library supporters to fill in a questionnaire about how much they value the service. These can be found online on Herefordshire Council's website.