Residents in Hove have been assured their library will not be closed.

Ian Duncan, Brighton and Hove culture councillor, said plans to close Hove library would not go ahead.

Hove was one of the original libraries given to the people a century ago by millionaire Andrew Carnegie.

The distinctive building in Church Road is now run by Brighton and Hove City Council.

Rumours of closure arose after a move to Hove Town Hall was considered earlier this year as a cash-saving scheme.

The library building is old, has an inconvenient layout and is extremely hard to adapt to the needs of disabled people.

It is on two floors, has seven areas to be supervised and needs repairs costing thousands of pounds.

Coun Duncan conceded a much more effective service could be run if the library were at Hove Town Hall.

But he said many people loved the building in Church Road and it would not raise much money if it were sold.

He said: "While the move made a lot of sense in some ways, we rejected it."