A LIBRARY refurbished at a cost of £1.9m was officially opened to the public yesterday.

Stockton Central Library opened two weeks ago and 1,500 people visited on the first day, easily more than double the usual number.

Yesterday, author and historian Philippa Gregory, who wrote the number one bestseller The Other Boleyn Girl, cut the ribbon, held a talk and signed books to mark the occasion.

The refurbished Stockton library follows a similar revamp at Thornaby library, which has increased visitor numbers by more than 200 per cent.

Stockton Central Library will also offer council services, including council tax payments.

The library side has new self-service technology, an enhanced reference and study facility, a local family history suite, improved ICT facilities, and a new cafe named StarBooks. A new conference facility opened last month.

Sue Sneyd, library improvement co-ordinator, who worked as a project manager on the refurbishment, said: "The reaction we've had from the public can be described as an overwhelming success.

"We've had no negative comments at all. People were really looking forward to us reopening.

"At one point we were restacking the shelves and we'd get people banging on the doors wanting to be let in.

"On our first day we had more than 1,500 people in, so there's a real demand."

The central library was closed in February to enable the work to be carried out.