THE county council has been urged to stop “dragging its feet” over installing new security fences around a city library after suffering months of anti-social behaviour and vandalism.

Labour councillor Jill Desayrah, who represents the city’s Wardon ward, has called on Worcestershire County Council to bring an end to the “appalling situation” at the Fairfield Centre in Carnforth Drive which has been plagued by trouble for more than a year.

“It is not acceptable that residents are being forced to wait for the Tory-led county council to deliver this project,” she said. “Anti-social behaviour is a blight on the lives of residents in the area, and the cost of repairs to an important community building is mounting up.

“This appalling situation has been going on for well over a year now - why are we still waiting?”

“We are now well into the summer holiday period, when good weather and school closures will likely make the issue even worse.”

Cllr Desayrah said residents around Warndon Library, including those in Gamekeepers Drive, have been “plagued” by noise and trespassing and were “bearing the brunt” of cuts to youth services and police numbers.

“We are sick of seeing our community ignored by a Conservative-led county council that, it seems, can easily find funds and enthusiasm for Tory vanity projects, but is happy to neglect a working-class area like Warndon,” she added.

“Warndon residents shouldn’t have to put up with it, and as their councillor, I don’t intend to either.”

Cllr James Stanley, who represents the Gorse Hill and Warndon division, said the council was not ‘dragging its feet’ and “conversations were ongoing” over the new fence and he was happy to push for more CCTV to be installed around the library.

“I can assure the residents of Gorse Hill and Warndon that we are looking at this very closely but it’s not something that we can just address overnight,” he said.

Cllr Marcus Hart, cabinet member for communities, said the county council had been looking to increase security at Warndon Library but the height of the fence meant it would need planning permission.

“The application will be submitted as soon as possible and we are continuing to work with the police to keep this site safe and improve the facilities for local residents,” he said.