COUNTY council leader Keith Mitchell says his policy on closing libraries is based on clear professional advice.

In our opinion, that advice is based on manipulated and flawed statistics and should be open to scrutiny in the consultation process.

The suggestion is that we use hub libraries once ours is closed. When chief advisor John Jackson came to Kennington, we got the impression that he had never struggled with a buggy on buses.

Our consultation indicates that families have neither the time, energy nor, sometimes, the money needed to access Oxford Central Library. Certainly the children from Small World Nursery who come in crocodile every Wednesday will not go into Oxford.

The library users most likely to take advantage of Oxford Central are the over 60s. The subsidy on their return journey is £2.60 – wiping out much of the saving.

When you add to that the loss of revenue from DVD rentals and the difficulties facing the village centre without the library’s rent, then the savings are minimal in our case.

We suggest that the cuts be implemented fairly without closures. Each library should be given time to come up with proposals.

Larger libraries have the option to generate income by inviting in a commercial coffee bar.

Some may consider moving to cheaper premises. Kennington would need to fundraise to ameliorate the cuts.

If the council truly believes in localism, it should trust each library to manage its cuts while keeping its professional librarian.

Sylvia Vetta, Upper Road, Kennington, On behalf of the Friends of Kennington Library