CONCERNS have been raised about plans to cut back mobile library services in Bolton.

As part of a new timetable which starts on October 4, 57 existing stops across Bolton will be cut and 19 new stops added in an attempt to make the service more cost effective.

A review of the service found that while more than 600 people used the service, usage had reduced at some stops, with others having no visitors at all. With the new timetable, the mobile library will visit 69 locations in a two-week cycle, providing longer stopping times in some areas. New stops will include sheltered and residential housing.

In Blackrod, the three stops at Greenbarn Way, Eskdale Avenue and Scot Lane each had three or four users. The report recommended an average of 10 users per stop.

Eskdale Avenue will now be the only stop in Blackrod and residents are unhappy with the reduction in the service.

Cllr Ian Hamilton said: "The people in Blackrod will be losing out on a valuable public service.

"People who are unable to walk to the village library, will not be able to walk the distance to Eskdale Avenue.

Similar situations will apply across the borough.

Cllr Martyn Cox, executive member for culture, said: "The mobile library is an asset as it reaches people who have difficulty in getting to a library.

"We have now carried out a review to see if there are any ways we can improve and it has highlighted a number of areas where there was under use or no use at all so we have rewritten the timetable and introduced new routes and services."

The revised timetables will be available at all libraries, in the mobile library and online at www.bolton.gov.uk/libraries