A LATCHFORD author said the town will become a ‘national laughing stock’ if LiveWire’s plan to close nine libraries goes ahead.

Award-winning writer Gill Hoffs said that after Warrington was named as the worst town for culture in the country by the Royal Society of Arts last year it would be foolish to get rid of our libraries too.

She said: “Warrington got a kicking 12 months ago in the press for being last in the RSA list, rightly or wrongly, for cultural features and how we look after them.

“Now LiveWire are trying to do this – have they learnt absolutely nothing? They’re looking to make Warrington a national laughing stock rather than a jewel in the north west.”

The author, who has thanked Warrington’s librarians personally in her books for their help, criticised plans to replace nine libraries with lending lockers and said the lockers would be ‘coffins for our culture’.

She also highlighted plans to move Warrington’s central library on Museum Street into the unit currently occupied by Funky Dory Shoes in Golden Square and said residents should be proud that the town has the oldest lending library in the country.

“It’s one of the reasons we have got a cultural quarter and that should not remain the butt of touring comedians’ jokes. That should be something we’re proud of.

“What exactly is the cultural quarter named for? Is it going to be a beautiful mural and a museum or is there going to be something a bit more?”