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Tory austerity has seen more than 3,000 computers with internet access stripped from libraries, Labour reveals today.

Hard-up families and the elderly are likely to be harder hit by the loss as they rely on publicly-available terminals and are less likely to have the world wide web at home.

Research by the House of Commons Library shows there were 34,794 terminals with internet in libraries in England in 2009/10 - the last full year of a Labour government

But by 2016/17, after seven years of Tory cuts - including slashing town hall funding from Whitehall by 40% - the number plunged to 31,647.

In contrast, in Wales where Labour has been in power since the Welsh assembly was created in 1999, the number rose slightly from 2,840 to 2,891.

(Image: Birmingham Post and Mail)

And in Scotland, where the nationalists SNP has run the administration throughout the period, the number climbed by 99 from 4,334, to 4,433.

The fall in the number of terminals coincides with a drop in the number of libraries open for at least 10 hours a week, from 3,428 “service points” in 2009/10 to just 2,958 in 2016/17 - a 13% plunge.

Labour, which commissioned the research, warned that with an increasing number of Government functions moving online, including some benefit applications, the most vulnerable in society were being driven off the web.

Shadow Libraries Minister Kevin Brennan said: “Tory austerity is decimating digital services in libraries up and down the country.

“This is in direct contravention of the Government’s own library targets and is particularly harmful at a time when the Government is increasingly demanding that vulnerable people apply for state support online.

(Image: Matthew Horwood)

“Libraries are crucial to our communities and they are resilient, but these continuing, savage cuts put our precious public library services at risk.

“It’s poorer people and the elderly who will be hit hardest by this as they often struggle to afford the internet at home.”

A Local Government Association spokesman said: “There is a fantastic amount of creativity and ambition among library staff, councils and their communities to make the very best of resources.

“Libraries are playing an increasingly important role as community hubs, empowering local people to use a wide variety of services ranging from homework clubs to public health and business advice.

“They are also helping our residents and businesses to boost their digital skills and get online by providing free WiFi, with all the extra economic and social benefits which these bring.

“With local government facing a funding gap that will exceed £5billion by 2020, councils will continue to work with their local communities to the best of their abilities to provide services which are important to them.”