THE closure of Hove Museum’s café has led unions and campaigners to question the future of the Victorian building and Hove Library.

The café at the museum in New Church Road closed on April 30 because of a shortage of customers.

It comes as Brighton and Hove City Council seeks a proprietor for a café in Hove Library just 400 yards away.

Campaigner Christopher Hawtree criticised the council’s strategy in replacing book and exhibition space with cafés and has called for head of libraries Sally McMahon to be removed.

The council said it waswere now exploring ways of providing refreshments for museum visitors.

Taxpayers have been subsidising the café by £25,000 a year, a figure deemed “unsustainable”.

Council officials say the museum would need to see a substantial increase in footfall of around 25,000 a year for the café to break even.

They also claim rejected plans to move Hove Library into the museum would have boosted footfall by 150,000 visitors a year, allowing the café to raise income to support the running of the museum.

Property consultants Carr and Priddle are advertising a café opportunity in 172 square feet of Hove Library currently home to computers and a 1,345 square foot space for office or nursery use.

The Grade II listed library is now only open six days a week despite council officers’ warning it could stifle the success of any proposed commercial enterprises. Peyton and Byrne walked away from a £20 million contract to run the Dome and museums catering in 2014 after just 18 months with the Dome returning back in house.

Hardings Catering, which has stopped operating at Hove Museum, will continue to provide food for the Royal Pavilion tea room.

Hove Museum’s Pocock Room, which hosted the café, will now be used for functions, education activities and children’s birthday parties.

Councillor Alan Robins, culture committee chairman, said: “This isn’t a decision Brighton and Hove City Council and Royal Pavilion and Museums have taken lightly but in the current climate of reduced budgets we’re working to find new ways to provide refreshment facilities for residents and visitors to Hove Museum.”

Mr Hawtree said the council needed a new head of libraries who had “books at heart”.

He said sacrificing more of the Hove Library’s book space made a mockery of reading which was “one of life’s joys” for many people.

GMB branch secretary Mark Turner said: “It is another council service where someone came in thinking they would make a lot of money and they haven’t been able to make money. It was the same problem with Brighton Museum.

“I don’t think the library merge dream is dead and buried, I think we could see that being revived.”