THE library in Upton-Upon-Severn appears to be safe from closure after the consultation into its future ended.

A meeting of stakeholders and volunteers was held to discuss the future of the building and what can be done to reduce overheads and make the library more commercially viable.

Chris Mair, chairman of Upton Villages Together, the trust which operates the library, said: "The library is safe, what we now have to work on is the plan for the future.

"Worcestershire County Council has been responsive to what the trust has been researching, especially Councillor Paul Middlebrough, who was a key ally.

"We are at early stage to see if we can emulate the Fortis Living, Department of Work and Pensions structure that is set up in Malvern to support jobseekers.

"There's work to do so there are no hard and fast plans in place, but we and County are confident we can find a way forward."

Mr Mair added: "What needs to be achieved is a reduction in overheads, this could be achieved wholly or in part by reducing the library opening hours, which is not supported by our volunteers, myself or our Trust.

"So, it is about investigating other means of creating revenue to help offset these costs. One area is to look at how the volunteers might be able to work without staff at known quiet times or to open the library, again this can be a quiet time.

"This is now being assessed by the volunteers. We are also looking at what Malvern library offers, working with the DWP and jobseekers. At present jobseekers need to travel to Malvern, so to be able to offer something similar in Upton would be of great benefit."

The uncertainty over the future of the library in School Lane came from a county-wide consultation into the viability and future of libraries in Worcestershire. The consultation ranked libraries across the county in terms of need, with Upton's library ranked among the lowest in the county. The consultation phase ended on February 2 with the changes set to be implemented this summer.

At the time of the consultation, a working group was set up by Upton Town Council to look into solutions to the future of the library, with Town Councillor Shirley Dobbin saying: "Our library is more than just a building with books, it would be a great shame if we lost it."