Cllr Dale Heenan "I have been contacted by several local residents about news that Swindon Borough Council considered closing Covingham Library, along with 8 other Libraries to save money.

This was the first time I had heard about these plans, with the Leader of the Council unavailable, I immediately rang the Deputy Leader of the Council, Fionuala Foley, at home to find out what was going on. Following this conversation, I am pleased to say that talk of closing Covingham Library is utter nonsense.

The report which was "leaked" was written by Council Officers and looked at several options for Libraries in Swindon. This option was dismissed out of hand by Cabinet members as unacceptable.

The Deputy Leader has agreed to put it in writing that there are no plans to close Covingham Library, and that Cllr Smith, Young and I will receive this next week, along with the support of the Leader of the Council, Rod Bluh.

When I moved into my new house in Covingham last summer, I donated over 30 books from my bookshelf to Covingham Library. And Covingham Library has recently under gone refurbishment, local residents need to know that we fully support the Library and would never let it close without a fight."