A Preston library closed by Lancashire County Council is to re-open, in the same spot.

Conservative group leader county councillor Geoff Driver said contracts on the building – which many understood had been sold – were not exchanged.

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He has ordered the county council not to exchange contract and the library be re-opened, reversing the decision to close and sell it off made in September last year.

Turf Tech, who operate in Fulwood, had lodged a change of use application to convert the building into offices.

But county councillor Driver, who has the library in his Preston North division, asked in County Hall on Monday (8 May) about the contracts.

He said: “Fulwood library contracts have not been exchanged so we will not be exchanging contracts and will be reopening Fulwood as a library.I haven’t got a date yet – it will be as soon as possible. It’s been closed long enough.”

Blog Preston approached Turf Tech for comment, but have received no response.

The library was subject to a 4,000 name petition calling for it not to close.

Read more: What the county council election results mean for Preston

Jane Porter, who was behind the petition, told the Lancashire Post she was ‘jubilant’ about the news the library would be re-opening.

The Conservatives won back control of County Hall on Friday (5 May) during the local elections, and pledged to reverse the library closures and sell-offs made by the former Labour administration.

It is not yet known where the funding will come from to re-open the libraries as the county council faces a £150million funding shortfall over the next three years.

Do you live in the area? What do you think of the news about the library? Let us know in the comments below