IT WAS a cherished community facility facing the prospect of closure.

But instead of closing for good, Burgess Road Library in Southampton has now reopened under new management.

The library was one of five faced with potential closure after the city council withdrew its funding.

However this week the library is back open and running the same activities enjoyed by hundreds of residents under a team led by volunteers and a local church.

Christ Church Southampton has taken over the management of the facility from the council and it reopened to the public this week.

Cobbett Road, Millbrook, Thornhill and Weston libraries were all at risk in £286,000 cuts that have also seen six jobs axed.

However all of their futures were secured when community groups came forward to take them on, although the mobile library service has now ceased.

Speaking after Burgess Road Library reopened yesterday Lynne Bartholomew, part of the new management team, said the team were "delighted" that the library had reopened.

"We are learning as we go along but we are very excited. Somebody was outside at 10am waiting for us to open," she added.

Within four hours of the library reopening 144 people had used it, alongside 13 other people who wanted to find out about other things in the city.

She said 20 volunteers were being trained by the council, including local volunteers, staff from the University of Southampton and members of the church.

For the moment it will stay open for the same 29 hours as it did under council management, but that will reduce to 26 although it is not yet known which days hours will be reduced on.

And in the summer it will close temporarily for refurbishment and the addition of new facilities such as a disabled toilet.

Lynne continued: "We are aiming to keep all of the activities the same, so we will have the toy library, rhyme time and children's crafts, and we have just put forward some new ideas such as a monthly magazine and crosswords and sudoku for adults."

One of the volunteers who has come forward to help out is retired Robert Battle, from Chandler's Ford.

"I'm volunteering because this is the library I came to when I was a teenager in the sixties," he said.

"I got involved because I don't want to see it close."

One of the first residents to use the library after it reopened was Eshaqali Jafar, who said: "It's very good for my daughter, if she finds out she needs a book for school, I take her here and we pick one out. It's also good for people who have poor internet, and need to use a computer."

• Additional reporting by Nathan Wiggett