Dozens turned out at the weekend to protest against plans by Surrey County Council to put 10 libraries across the county in the hands of volunteers.

Demonstrations were held at Ewell Court library, Woking public library and County Hall following a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, September 27, where Conservative councillors approved plans to get volunteers to run libraries in place of professional staff, in a bid to save £300,000.

Ewell Court, Stoneleigh and Tattenham libraries will be affected by the plans which will see volunteers take over their day to day running , while the county council will continue to provide the building, stock, computer equipment and free Wi-Fi.

The mobile library service is also being axed, with the lease on library vehicles running out on October 28.

Jackie Forrest, Chair of the friends of Ewell Court Library, speaking on behalf of potential volunteers said: "I don’t think they are 100 per cent happy because they would much rather things would just stay as they were.

"They are mostly retired people so you can’t expect too much of people.

"We would like Surrey County Council to change their minds and listen to the proposals that have been made about perhaps spreading the costs between the 52 libraries in Surrey rather than targeting the smaller ones.

"Although it’s going to be a hard job I have no doubt we will succeed and we have to be positive because we won’t let our gem of a library close down, but we are going to need the support of the whole community."

Despite volunteers’ concerns, Denise Saliagopoulos, Surrey County Council’s cabinet member for community services, believes the plans are in the best interests of Surrey.

Following last week's council meeting she said: "Today's decision means we are a step closer to fulfilling our aim of keeping all 52 of Surrey's libraries open, while focusing resources and making best use of new technologies such as e-books.

"We've been greatly encouraged by the response we’ve had to the plans to give people the freedom to tailor their local library to meet local needs."

The plans will now be subject to review returning to the committee panel before a final decision is made.