Proposed cuts in library opening hours have been criticised by the Green Party.

Hertfordshire County Council will next week discuss plans to slash opening hours across the county by 30 per cent, as part of its plan to cut costs over the next three years.

Councillor Ian Brandon (Callowland Leggatts) said: “Libraries do not just provide books for reading, they are a hub of the community and provide a valuable information point both for studying and about what is going on in the community. The council itself puts a lot of its information and consults the public via libraries, so therefore it means the public will have less chance to read and act on this information.

“Having a reduction in the Central Library (in Hempstead Road, Watford) means the push to have a better diversity of people using the town centre in the evenings will have gone backwards and a reduction at North Watford Library (in St Albans Road) means residents again feel the brunt of the council wielding its cutting axe.”