A SEVEN-year-old boy who wrote to David Cameron to ask for his help to save a library threatened with closure was delighted when he received a reply from the Prime Minister’s office.

William Dore, a pupil at Cockerton Primary School, in Darlington, was upset when he heard that councillors were considering closing Cockerton Library, which he visits regularly with his classmates and family, as part of budget cuts.

William told his mother, Rachel, that he wanted to write to Prime Minister David Cameron, who he said was “the most important man in the world”, to ask him to save the facility.

To his surprise, William not only received a letter from Mr Cameron’s office thanking him for his “excellent” letter, but also a response from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, (DCMS) which oversees library services in the UK.

Darlington Borough Council has since voted to save the library, although it will now operate with reduced hours.

Mrs Dore, an ambulance technician, said she was pleased the Prime Minister’s office had taken William’s letter seriously.

She said: “We had popped in to the library one day and they were telling us that it might be closing. I could tell William was a little bit upset and he said he wanted to do something about it.

“He said the most important person in the world was David Cameron and could I find his address to write to him?

“William is doing so well with his reading at school and I think it does help him and the other children to visit the library with school. I thought it would be good to encourage him to write a letter if that’s what he wanted.

“I hope that making this public shows the community the importance of the library for local children, not just adults.”

Mike Crawley, spokesman for the Friends of Cockerton Library, which campaigned to save the service, said William’s effort showed the level of support from people of all ages in the area.

“It’s great that everybody has taken part in this campaign and that William wrote to David Cameron as he did. It’s great that Prime Minister’s office was made aware of our fight.”