SHOCKWAVES are reverberating across Fordingbridge as Hampshire County Council has announced the town could lose its library.

Fordingbridge Library may be forced to shut as part of a major review by Hampshire County Council as it bids to save £1.7m.

More than 5,700 comments have been left after three weeks of consultation on plans to split libraries into four tiers based on use.

Some tier three libraries, including Fordingbridge and Lyndhurst may close or become volunteer-run.

Executive member for culture, recreation and countryside Andrew Gibson, said: “We’re very pleased that the consultation on our draft Library Strategy has sparked such strong interest, and we’re encouraging more people to have their say. All feedback is valuable and will be used to inform the final outcome, as no decisions have been made yet.

“At the moment, we are asking residents how libraries should be categorised, and what the criteria should be to help inform any future reviews. We would consult about specific proposals before any changes were made.”

The council has targeted the mobile library service because it is used by an ageing population of 2,230 people - one per cent of Hampshire’s library users.

Cllr Gibson added: “Nationally, the public sector faces considerable financial challenges with less money coming from central Government.

Hampshire is no different – with the county council’s grant having been more than halved in recent years.”

The county is looking to reinvest £500,000 from the £2 million Book Fund into technology such as self-service borrowing, which Cllr Gibson said would make libraries “modern and vibrant”.

The consultation runs until January 16.