IT houses more than 10,000 books on the New Forest plus 1,000 maps and almost as many photographs.

But fears for the future of the Christopher Tower Reference Library in Lyndhurst have been expressed after two of its paid staff were made redundant.

Librarian Richard Reeves and his assistant, Jude James, have been laid off in a bid to save £20,000 a year.

Housed on the first floor of the New Forest Centre, the library has closed while volunteers are taken on and given the necessary training.

The move has sparked fears about the level of service likely to be provided in the future.

Mike Chilcott, secretary of the New Forest Association, said: “This facility is by far the most important part of the building. A number of history groups use it as they make huge use of Richard and Jude’s knowledge.”

The changes have also come under fire from Mr James himself.

He said: “In a recent meeting I had with the trustees about the decision I told them I was deeply saddened the expertise will go.

“We’ve had a good number of volunteers at the centre and some of them are splendid, but this doesn’t mean they have the vision and the background that Richard and I could bring to bear on the subject.”

Former New Forest verderer Anthony Pasmore added: “A library staffed by experts is irreplaceable.”

But the centre defended the changes, saying the facility, which it described as a “treasure”, had to be financially sustainable.

A spokesman said: “Plans for the library include making the resources more accessible through the Internet, reorganising the layout to make it more suitable for researchers and ensuring that visitors will still be able to have professional research assistance from a number of independent local researchers.”

The spokesman said re-organising the library would make it more a part of the community.

“This will attract not only more visitors, keen to learn more about the Forest, but also volunteers who are interested in the history of the New Forest and would love to have the opportunity to help others to enjoy and understand this very precious collection,” he said.

Run by the New Forest Ninth Centenary Trust, the centre is funded by various organisations including the district council and the National Park Authority.

The library is named after Etoneducated author Christopher Tower, who worked in the Middle East before retiring to write books on poetry. He died in 1998.

• Anyone interested in becoming a volunteer should contact Suzie Moore on 023 8028 3444.