BRIGHTON Library's temporary home for the next three years has finally been announced.

All facilities will start moving from Church Street to Preston Circus from August.

The library's home, until a permanent site is found for a new building, will be Vantage Point, a Sixties tower block on the corner of New England Road and New England Street.

Library users near Preston Circus are delighted to have the facility on their doorstep, but people in the town centre are sorry to see it move away.

Tim Mitchell, who runs Belle's Sandwich Bar, across the road from Vantage Point, said: "It's good for people to come here rather than the middle of town."

Another trader in the area said: "London Road and Preston Circus have tended to become a bit of a ghost town in the last few years so any boost is very welcome."

But Coun Mike Middleton, who represents Seven Dials ward, which includes the old library building, said: "The new site wouldn't be my ideal choice. The users in this area will miss having it so near but we must look forward to when a new, state-of-the-art library is built."

Selma Montford, of the Brighton Society, also has reservations about the move. She said: "It doesn't seem a very suitable site. You would have hoped they could have found something more central."

The three-year move is necessary because the existing library in Church Street is to become a grand entrance for the renovated Dome and Corn Exchange.

Work will eventually start on a new permanent library, probably on a long-empty site at Jubilee Street.

Acouncil spokeswoman said: "The town has more than 250,000 residents and I'm sure those near Preston Circus are going to be delighted."

"The library will move there for three years because we have got to build a new one from scratch. That doesn't happen overnight."

Church Street's Music Library will still house a drop-off point for town centre borrowers to return books.

Vantage Point was chosen because it can house all the library's collections under one roof, has full disabled access and has been empty for years.

Coun Sheila Schaffer, who chairs the libraries committee, said: "Vantage Point is the ideal temporary home for Brighton's library.

"It is wonderfully light and will be a lot easier for staff to help people who use the library."

Coun Schaffer added that local people would be asked for their views about the new library.

Brighton Library has been at Church Street since 1973, but the building is now too small to house all its books.

It is the busiest library in Sussex, dealing with 100,000 enquiries every year.

byAdamT

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.