DUDLEY councillors have clashed over proposals to close Woodside Library Link.

The library, which is currently housed within Woodside Primary School in Highgate Road, is set to close after no alternative sites could be found.

A consultation period giving residents the chance to air their views ran from December 11 to February 4.

Woodside councillor Qadar Zada said the fact it was run over Christmas meant many "simply did not have the opportunity to respond".

He continued: "The people I have spoken to have said it’s much more than books and for some it’s the only way they can get access to a computer.

"The closure of this library link is an insult to the people of Woodside.

"The reasons that have been put forward for its closure are pathetic and can be easily overcome if the will was there.”

Councillor Peter Miller, Dudley's cabinet member for health and wellbeing, called cllr Zada's complaints "a joke" and that he was "just looking for something to moan about".

"The consultation period was extended because of the Christmas period," he said.

Cllr Miller added: "It was sent to 1,200 people and there were nine respondents. You cannot keep something open with those sorts of figures.

"There is a library at Netherton, Brierley Hill and Dudley. They are not more than two or three miles away."

The library link was a replacement for Woodside Library, which closed in 2008.

The original library building, which was given to the community by the Earl of Dudley, was acquired by the Black Country Living Museum last year and will be moved to the Tipton Road tourist attraction 'brick-by-brick'.