London Colney Library will "retain an element of paid library staff" despite cuts of more than £2million to the library budget.

Earlier this month Councillor Button vowed "within the next ten years, there is no plan to close any of the 46 libraries" despite plans to slash £2.5 million from the library budget in the next three years.

But yesterday, Hertfordshire County Council approved the plans to cut the budget and implement the "Inspiring Libraries" strategy.

Plans include axing mobile library services and the ‘Inspiring Libraries’ strategy is based on each of Hertfordshire’s 46 libraries being placed in three distinct categories based on service demand.

Tier 3 libraries will be forced to rely on a greater number of volunteers and there will be "self-service access" to many of the services.

Councillor Button told Hertfordshire County Council’s Cabinet: "As a consequence of the responses [from the second consultation], we have now revised the classification for Buntingford [which has been made a Tier 2 library].

The cabinet chief for libraries also said larger Tier 3 libraries, which include London Colney Library in Caledon Road, Kings Langley, Chorleywood and Bovingdon, will retain some paid librarians.

The extra resources will be taken from Tier 1 libraries,which include St Albans Library, but Councillor Button said: "Once again, I can confirm all 46 libraries will remain open".

Tier 2 libraries will retain staff "during core hours" and offer a wide range of popular stock while Tier 1 libraries would be staffed by trained library staff.

Hertfordshire County Council said it will also be investing in more digital technology, including 3-d printers but users will face charges when using such services.