COUNCIL plans to replace staff at Old Trafford Library with volunteers have been fiercely criticised in a report published by campaigners opposed to the proposals.

The report states that the idea has largely been introduced in small, rural communities and in areas like Lewisham in London - an area comparable to Old Trafford - the number of library loans has plummeted by 89 per cent.

The 20-page document also claims the estimated £100,000 the move will save the council could be wiped out by the cost of commissioning a voluntary organisation to run the scheme and train volunteers.

Ally Fogg, one of the researchers and a spokesman for the Hands Off Old Trafford Library (HOOT) Campaign said: “One of our biggest concerns has been that the council doesn’t seem to have done any kind of feasibility study before publishing these proposals. It fell to the community to do the hard work of analysing the plans and we discovered that the council’s sums simply don’t add up.”

The report also looks at possible legal challenges to the council’s plans.

It was presented by HOOT campaigners to the council on Friday (March 2) and Alex Williams, the council’s deputy leader said: “All the feedback submitted during the consultation will be taken into account when producing the consultation report. The report will then be submitted to the council's Scrutiny Committee and then the council’s Executive for a decision at the end of March.”