RESIDENTS in Highfield, Hawes Side, Marton, South Shore and Claremont will lose their existing libraries, Blackpool Borough Council has decided.

Councillors voted 22 to 17 in favour of closing the libraries at last Wednesday's full council meeting, despite pleas from opposition parties.

The vote gave crucial backing to the cabinet's decision on November 19 to close the libraries and press ahead with a modernisation programme.

Cabinet member Cllr David Owen, portfolio holder for culture and leisure, said he got 'no satisfaction whatsoever' from seeing libraries close.

"The reason why the plan is before us is to take account of the massive drop in usage of the library service over recent years. Even central library is 25 per cent down but some of the worst were 55 per cent," he said.

While the council had taken into account the huge public backlash against the plans, ways have to be found to up the numbers using the service and get young people into libraries, he said.

The debate caused a very public rift in Blackpool's cabinet, with Lib Dem Cllr Robert Wynne in open disagreement with Labour cabinet members over the plans. But he rejected calls from Tory leader, Cllr Peter Callow, for him to quit the 'cabinet clique'.