CASH-STRAPPED Darlington Borough Council admitted last night that its plan to save money by closing the town's libraries will cost taxpayers £1.1 million.

Officials said the authority would have to borrow more than £1.1m - far more than the original estimate - to relocate Crown Street Library into the town's Dolphin Centre leisure complex.

At the same time, the council plans to spend £600,000 upgrading equipment in the Dolphin Centre bringing the total cost of the scheme to £1.7m.

The controversial library proposals, which provoked a mass demonstration at the weekend, would commit the authority to at least 25 years of debt repayments at a time when it is slashing jobs and services to save money.

Council chiefs have also admitted that proceeds from any sale of the central library, a gift to the town from the Quaker philanthropist Edward Pease, would “not be significant”.

The authority insists its plans to scrap the libraries and run a reduced service from the Dolphin Centre will save £300,000 - but protestors say a significant part of the savings are the result of salary savings after redundancies and not building costs.

Members of the public will have their first chance to have their say on the council's plans at public meetings in the town hall later today.

The council's debts currently stand at £88.4m - which costs £446,000 per year in interest payments alone.

The scale of borrowing was announced after campaigners Darlington for Culture demanded answers from the authority about its plans for the library and The Northern Echo launched a campaign to save Crown Street library.

Backed by the town’s residents, world-famous authors, protestors and community groups, the campaign aims to save the much-loved library for future generations to enjoy.

Find out how you can help inside today’s paper.