FURIOUS villagers have drawn up battle lines as they prepare to go to war with council bosses in a desperate bid to 'save’ their library.

Angry neighbours in Pangbourne are devastated at West Berkshire Council’s proposals to cut the library’s opening hours by 40% starting next year - a move campaigners say effectively sounds the death knell for the popular service.

The council says no decision has yet been made but Government cutbacks mean it needs to find £11m of savings over the next 24 months - on top of £17m already saved in the last two years - which will include slashing £175,000 from its £1.6m library budget.

The Facebook group Save Pangbourne Library, which was set up last Tuesday, had already attracted nearly 200 likes when the Chronicle went to press.

Writing on the Facebook page Andrew Roston described the move as “disgraceful” and “the slippery slope”, while Regi O’Donovan-Jones added: “I find it unbelievable that libraries are not considered one of the valuable resources of a civilised society, so to think of cutting such an educational resource beggars belief. Back to earlier years where private philanthropists provided it seems.”

Under the proposals the library, which attracted 27,700 visitors last year, will have its hours cut from 27 to 16 a week. Elsewhere libraries in Burghfield Common and Mortimer will also see their hours slashed, from 21 to 16 and from 22 to 16 respectively, but Theale library’s opening hours will remain at 26 hours per week because it has already been subject to recent cuts.

Council spokesman Keith Ulyatt said: “We’ve gone out and asked people what the impact is going to be if we were to make these savings for the next financial year, and as part of that process anybody can feed back to us. We will then put these comments together and they will be put before the council in February and it will be for the council to decide what to do.

“The whole purpose of the consultation is that people can have their say.”

The consultation ends on Friday, December 13. To take part visit www.surveymonkey.com/s/SavingsPlans2014-16Libraries