Council's 'ghost' library claim

Just 25 books were borrowed from the temporary libraries in two months

A south London council has been accused of opening three 'ghost libraries' in a bid to convince government inspectors it had met its cultural targets.

Opposition Liberal Democrat members of Lambeth Council said the three mini-libraries were only open for six weeks and amounted to a 'sneaky' con.

The three temporary branches cost local ratepayers £70,000.

A council spokesman denied a link with inspections in March, labelling the small libraries a pilot project.

But Liberal Democrat councillor Julian Heather said the branches, called 'Cultural Information Centres', were in fact 'ghost libraries' - a ruse by the Labour-run council to convince inspectors they were offering services they were not.

Internal emails

"I couldn't believe that they were being so sneaky, frankly," he said, adding that the money spent on the ghost libraries would have been better spent on the real thing.

Over two months, only 25 books were lent out from the branches in Brixton's Children's Centre and Marcus Lipton Youth Club and the Union Road housing office in Clapham.

Will the authorities buy these as being libraries? Council staff member, in email exchange

All three opened in March, just one week before the Audit Commission's inspectors were due to evaluate the overall opening hours of the borough's libraries.

In a series of internal emails shown to BBC London, council staff question whether the temporary libraries would convince inspectors.

In one email exchange, a staff member wrote: "Will the authorities buy these as being libraries?"

Another responded: "It makes me worried, if it was so simple as this, couldn't everyone do it?"

A council spokesman strongly denied any wrongdoing, saying there was no attempt to mislead inspectors and the issue was one of misinterpretation.

"The Cultural Information Centres were an innovative pilot scheme to promote council services," he said.

No elected Labour member of council was available to comment on the issue, the spokesman said.