Almost £25,000 in library fines was left unpaid at the end of last year in Brighton and Hove, figures out today revealed.

The total of £24,349 was built up by people who failed to return books, CDs, tapes and videos on time. A total of £14,516 in fines was waived.

Despite this, the majority of people did pay their fines on time and the city's libraries collected more than £77,000 in 2002.

They also collected £35,000 above target for income from loaning audio-visual items.

A spokeswoman for the city council said: "It doesn't mean the fines won't be paid.

"Outstanding fines remain on a library borrower's record and are collected the next time they take out books, tapes, CDs or videos.

"We only waive fines for good reasons, such as if someone has been in hospital."

The spokeswoman said money from fines and generated income was ploughed back into the library service.

She added the budget for books had gone up from £405,000 to £407,000 for the coming financial year and was unaffected by the outstanding fines.

Tory opposition leader councillor Brian Oxley said the library service should collect the fines owed to it to avoid any increase in council tax to make investments.

In a letter, he told the council of his concern that an increasing focus on providing internet access for the public may be distracting the library service from its main job.

He asked the council why the investment in new books was about 50 per cent of the standard expected to achieve a "comprehensive and efficient" public library service.