The most expensive library to run in the city is set to close under council plans.

Mile Oak Library in Chalky Road, Portslade, costs on average £20 per visitor to operate, with the city council paying £35,000 a year to keep it open.

However, Brighton and Hove City Council has announced proposals to shut the library’s doors for the last time in July.

The proposed closure is part of a city-wide savings plan to address a multi-million black hole in the city’s finances.

The council had previously said that only 150 people visit the library per month compared with 3,500 per month five years ago.

A council document published ahead of a budget meeting earlier this year said: “The library is the most expensive to run, currently working out at a cost of £19.02 per visit, compared to 78p on average per visit cost at other community libraries.”

A consultation is now under way to understand the needs of the current and potential customers of the library, which is at the Portslade Aldridge Community Academy (PACA), and look at potential alternative provision to meet those needs.

The council has urged everyone in the community, including those who do not currently use the library, to get in touch and share their views.

Should the closure go ahead as planned, the library will close its doors for good on July 21.

Independent councillor for North Portslade Peter Atkinson had been campaigning to save the library from closure.

He said: "It is absolutely vital that as many people as possible respond to the consultation.

"The reasons for the closure are economic but we need to look at why people haven't been using the library."

Cllr Atkinson said that lockdown and the library's opening times may have played a part in the reduction in visitor numbers and lamented the prospect that the local area may lose another valued community asset.

The consultation, which closes on June 5, can be found at https://consultations.brighton-hove.gov.uk/neighbourhoods-communities/mile-oak-public-library-consultation/.

The library first opened in the 1970s and was intended to help link the school and community.

It was retained as a “community asset” when the school became an academy and PACA’s buildings were modernised in a multi-million-pound revamp.

Plans to move the library into a room at a nearby sports centre were shelved last year.

Questions about the consultation can be sent to the council by emailing library.supportservices@brighton-hove.gov.uk.

Brighton and Hove has 14 libraries across the city, which are forecast to have more than a million visits this year.