THE fate of 11 closure-threatened Wirral libraries will be decided in a few weeks' time.

A two-day public inquiry which aimed to find out whether the proposed closures - part of the council's strategic asset review - breached the 1964 Libraries Act, ended earlier this afternoon.

Sue Charteris, who was appointed by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to head the inquiry, will compile a report of her findings and present it to new Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw, who will make a final decision on the libraries in July.

The inquiry - held at the Floral Pavilion in New Brighton - heard opposition statements from various library user groups and councillors.

The panel, which also featured representatives from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and barrister Richard Clayton QC, questioned Wirral council's regeneration director Alan Stennard as he gave evidence in support of the closure programme.

Mr Stennard said the plans aimed to deliver an enriched service for the borough. He added that the council was committed to spend £20m on new facilities and an additional £6m on IT provision.

"It's our assessment that the 13 libraries will be placed in the best views of the public.

"In the case of the proposed 13 libraries, the strategic asset review looked at several options in terms of future delivery.

"We looked at the proposal of five libraries, but this was rejected.

"It's a balancing act. If the council had unlimited resources to maintain our 24 libraries and could afford to buy superb books, we wouldn't be here today.

"We will continue to meet our statutory requirements of the 1964 libraries act."

Mr Stennard also outlined plans outreach schemes and plans to move services offered in libraries elsewhere.

During the course of Ms Charteris' investigation, the following questions were considered:

Did Wirral make a reasonable assesment of local needs in respect library services and, in any event, what are those needs?

On assessment of local needs, did Wirral act reasonably in meeting such needs through their proposals in the context of the available resources and their statutory obligations?

In her summing up, Ms Charteris, who was appointed by the DCMS to chair the inquiry in April and had conducted a fact-finding tour of the threatened libraries weeks before the public inquiry told the audience of more than 100 people:

She said today: "I would like to thank everybody whose contributions have helped this inquiry run smoothly.

"It's been a pleasure to visit the libraries and meet council staff and library staff. We have been through uncertain times.

"I leave Wirral with a good impression of the borough. Wish me luck as I begin the task of assessing all the issues issues I have been presented with."

Also on the panel was Craig Westwood, from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, said: "The Secretary of State does not believe library closures are inherently a bad thing" adding that they needed to be "taken in the context of a reasonable understanding of what the local need is."