Friends of Pevensey Bay Library are pleading with the government to stop reducing funding to local authorities

Chairman Margaret Martin was speaking after East Sussex County Council voted through huge cuts to libraries across the county.

There will be an average 25 per cent reduction in opening hours across the county’s 24 libraries.

Opening times will continue to vary across the county but libraries will generally not open before 10am or after 5pm. Those that currently open later than 5.30pm would retain one evening opening until 6pm on a Thursday, with the exception of Ringmer Library.

Margaret wants this message to go to central government: "Please look again at what is happening to libraries and reverse the current policy to phase out the annual grant settlement to local authorities from central government. "Access to public services should not be a postcode lottery dependant on what local authority area you live in, which is what is happening as a consequence of making all council services dependant on raising council tax. "Libraries in this country should be delivered to a consistent set of high standards with appropriate funding to deliver these."

The Friends of Pevensey Bay Library has fought a long battle with the council to get its library reopened after flooding issues. It should reopen on August 30.

Margaret said: "The council has committed to not closing libraries until their strategic review reports at this time next year. At that point another £750,000 of cuts will be sought. "After finding £500,000 from staff savings, £250,000 from the book fund, and another £500,000 from reducing library opening hours by a quarter, it is hard to imagine how this will be found other than through closing libraries.

"It would be easy to criticise the council but they are between a rock and a hard place. The Government’s comprehensive spending review last year set the scene for phasing out central funding of local authority services requiring local authorities to find the funds through raising council tax but limiting how much they can raise.

"Council tax is a poor means of levelling the playing field between the very wealthy and poorest people in this country, a gap that has grown in recent years. "A new study has shown how poverty is now a middle class problem with families struggling to make ends meet even though parents are working. Cutting back and closing libraries makes this situation worse. "Reviewing the massive impact of austerity policies and massive spending cuts on public services should follow, particularly if our new Prime Minister is genuinely interested in ‘working for everyone, not just the privileged few."