Six under-threat Croydon libraries have been given a year’s reprieve ahead of a meeting to decide their long-term future.

The six libraries - Sanderstead, Norbury, Shirley, Bradmore Green, Broad Green and South Norwood - will keep their funding until at least next April, when the following year’s council budget will be decided.

The decision to keep funding the six libraries could be brought before the cabinet as early as June 13 according to Councillor Sara Bashford, the cabinet member charged with cutting the council’s arts and culture spending.

And she revealed the results would “not be all doom and gloom”, but would not be drawn on specifics until the papers had been checked by the council’s legal team.

The decision was originally supposed to come before the cabinet in March, but the council was forced to put it on hold after receiving 20,000 responses to the public consultation from worried library users.

Coun Bashford said: “We were so inundated with information and suggestions from residents - when you look at other consultations you get maybe 1,500 (responses) if you are lucky.

“It’s not the case that we were using the July date to put it in the Summer holidays.

“If we are able to bring a paper in June that will be great, because that will stop a lot of speculation - and that would be ideal.

“But we can’t go ahead without all the i’s being dotted and the t’s being crossed.”

The Conservative councillor said the separate decision to slash 23 positions across the borough’s libraries, which came into force at the start of April, would have little effect on day-to-day running.

Eight staff took voluntary redundancy and another 15 retired, saving the council £350,000 a year.

Coun Bashford said many of the jobs were management and specialists, such as children’s librarians, who could comfortably work across more than one library.

She said: “It’s going to affect the libraries, but I don’t actually think people will see a huge difference.”

Up to 26 members of staff face losing their jobs as the council looks to save up to £700,000 by closing the six libraries,