COLCHESTER Library users will go without services in the city centre for three weeks due to upcoming refurbishment works, council bosses have revealed.

Colchester Library is due to close for a £450,000 refurbishment on September 2 until summer 2025.

In July, Essex County Council shared plans for a mobile and wheelchair-accessible library to visit the high street on Tuesdays from 10am to 2pm and Fridays from 8.30am to 4pm.

Alternative libraries in Prettygate and Winvehoe are also set to extend their opening hours to increase accessibility during the closure.

However, it has now been revealed the extended services are not due to start until September 23, three weeks after Colchester Library shuts.

Alderman Theresa Higgins, 69, said: “For a lot of people, this library is a vital place to be.

“Lots of people use the library that don’t have internet at home."

She continued: “A year is a long time, and the alternatives are outside of the city centre - to get yourself to Greenstead or Prettygate is not easy for a lot of people.

“A mobile library is not the same as being able to sit for three or four hours in one place, especially in the winter.

“I think they could’ve done better and at least kept part of it open to have the internet while they do other work."

A spokesman for Essex County Council said: "While the library will shut on September 2, staff will be available at the library until Saturday, September 7, to facilitate children taking part in the Summer Reading Challenge and they will also be able to accept book returns.

“Opening hours at Greenstead, Prettygate and Wivenhoe libraries will be extended from September 23.

"During the interim period, staff from Colchester Library will be supporting the shutdown, before prepping the other locations to incorporate additional study spaces, extra public access computers and re-shelving of additional stock."

The refurbishment will welcome a new Children’s Imagination and Literacy Centre on the ground floor as well as new heating, lighting and air conditioning.

The closure is due to the complexity of the works required for pipework, air handling units, gas boilers and more, and the danger to customers, staff and volunteers.

Staff will continue to be employed and will be based in the surrounding libraries during the closure, returning to the city centre site when it reopens.