A FLAGSHIP library is to cease opening on Sundays, council bosses have announced.

Durham County Council confirmed the change for Clayport Library, on Millennium Place, Durham City, in a statement issued today.

It will come into force later this year, on a date yet to be announced.

The move is part of the Labour-led council’s drive to cut £125m from its spending by 2013. It is feared cuts to other libraries could follow.

Maria Plews, the council’s cabinet member for leisure, libraries and lifelong learning, said the number of people using the library on Sundays had fallen by almost three-quarters since 2008.

"At a time when we have to make significant savings as a result of the Government grant reductions it is simply not sustainable or sensible for Sunday opening to continue," she said.

Clayport had enjoyed longer opening hours than any other library in County Durham and had been the only one to open on Sundays.

Seven-day opening was introduced as a trial in 2006, when the library attracted up to 700 visitors each Sunday.

However, annual Sunday visitor figures have fallen from 30,000 in 2006 to 8,000 in 2009-10.

The number of books borrowed on an average Sunday during 2009-10 was 250, compared to 430 on a weekday.

Computer bookings average at 100 per Sunday, compared to 231 on weekdays and 141 on Saturdays.

Council bosses say Sunday opening at Clayport costs as much as running three small libraries all year round. The library will remain open 9.30am to 7pm from Monday to Friday and 9.30am to 5pm on Saturdays.

Clayport was built as part of the £30m Millennium City complex and opened in February 2002.

A three-month consultation on the proposed changes ended in June. There were concerns raised over the future viability of events and groups which used the library on Sundays.

However, Coun Plews said: "Library visitors will still be able to browse our full library collection, request a book or renew an existing loan on a Sunday and every other day of the week by logging on to the council’s library online service."

For more information, call Clayport Library on 0191-3864003.