A library has shelved its plans to install Wi-Fi – because of the Olympics.

Council bosses had pledged to boost conference business in Jubilee Library in Brighton by upgrading its technology. Work was due to begin in March with the aim that Wi-Fi would available to the public by June. The move was prompted by the fact that prospective customers for the library’s conference rooms are put off by the lack of Wi-Fi facilities.

But now the plans have been put on hold.

A council spokesman said: “We feel it’s more likely to be September now. We were ready to put out a contract for the installation in June and the feedback we’re getting from suppliers is that the Olympics is taking such precedent in the IT industry that September is the more realistic target.

“The aim is to provide the best, safest Wi-Fi access in the quickest practical timescale.”

Meetings organiser Sam Harrington-Lowe, boss at Pretty Clever Events in Church Road, Hove, said that increasingly her clients will not consider a venue if it does not have Wi-Fi.

She said: “There is no reason why a sporting event in London should affect the installation of equipment in a building in Brighton.

“That’s ridiculous. It is the library that is behind the game – and it will lose out to its competition.”