CAMPAIGNERS who have battled to save a library have conceded defeat.

Members of the Wilford Library Action Group vigorously opposed Nottingham City Council's plans to close it.

It was due to shut on March 31, but the group won a reprieve from the council, which kept it open until the end of September while both sides investigated the possibility of transferring the library to community ownership.

No agreement has been reached and the library is now set to close as planned.

Residents still hope the council will consider giving the building to the community.

However, some residents are furious with the city council for how it handled the closure of the library and accuse the authority of never wanting to transfer it to the community.

One, who did not want to be named, said: "I think we were stitched up from the start. Holding out the prospect of an asset transfer was a public relations exercise."

The library building is in a state of disrepair and the cost of improvements has been put at £35,000, while the annual running costs are a similar amount.

During the campaign, the action group discovered the council considered closing the library two years ago, but the community had not been told.

When the council announced in January this year it wanted to close the facility in March, residents say they had little time to develop plans to take it on.

The action group says the final blow came when the city council said it would charge commercial rates to lend library books and the facility would be audited to professional standards.

Maggie Hamilton, spokeswoman for the action group, said: "Working with the council has been a revelation. Everything is postponed until the next meeting. There has been mention of various things that later have been withdrawn.

"Previously they said they would give us books, but if we had to pay for them that would be an ongoing cost.

"They just closed every avenue down systematically."

The action group face an additional challenge because most grants are not available to support statutory services, such as libraries, which are normally provided by the local council.

Mrs Hamilton said the group would continue to consider if the building could be put to some other community use.

"We remain optimistic of saving something for the village." she said. "If we can obtain an asset transfer we want to."

Councillor David Trimble, portfolio holder for culture at the city council, strongly denied the asset transfer plan was a PR exercise.

"The council officers wanted to close the library," he said. "I said I would offer it to the community. Without that, it would have closed [on March 31]. They asked for a six-month extension and I said yes."

Mr Trimble said he was not involved in discussions about book loans and was not aware of residents' claims that offers had been withdrawn.

He said he would be discussing the possibility of an asset transfer of the building for community use.