CAMPAIGNERS fighting to stop the closure of 11 Somerset libraries - including two in West Somerset - are preparing to take their battle to court after reaching a £9,000 fundraising target for initial legal costs.

Watchet library user Rebecca Hird is being used as a test case in a three-day judicial review hearing in Birmingham which gets underway next Tuesday (September 27).

The Friends of Somerset Libraries is challenging Somerset County Council's decision that would have shut the door on six libraries from October 1 - including Watchet and Porlock - and a further five from April next year.

Public Interest Lawyers, who are representing Ms Hird, succeeded in obtaining an interim injunction stopping all closures pending the judicial review.

Campaigners needed to raise at least £9,000 as a community contribution towards the legal costs of the challenge and this week they thanked people for backing the cause.

More than 150 pledges of cash have been received from individuals and groups across Somerset and over the border in Dorset.

And following publicity about a recent fundraising coffee morning in Watchet, several people offered contributions to take the appeal over the target line.

FOSL chairman Kay Hoskins from Wiveliscombe described the support as "wonderful".

"Not only have we received the financial backing from local people and library friends' groups, but they have also helped by providing information and witness statements to the court countering the county council's position," said Mrs Hoskins.

She said statements from four local parish and town councils and friends' groups in areas where libraries were earmarked for closure showed that alternatives for keeping the facilities open - such as turning them into community libraries - were only being considered as a very last resort and not willingly.

John Irven, treasurer of Watchet Library Friends who has been leading the fundraising for the legal challenge, claimed the county council had decided on a level of budget cuts and then tried to fit the service to it.

"What they should have done was to assess what they needed to do under the 1964 Libraries and 2010 Equalities Acts, carried out proper consultation and considered the wishes and needs of local communities, especially those of disabled and disadvantaged, and only then see how to balance their legal obligations against a budget."

Mr Irven, who will be among a group of campaigners attending next week's hearing - at their own expense - said raising £9,000 was a fantastic achievement.

But he said there were likely to be additional costs and any further contributions would be greatly appreciated.

Anyone wanting to support the cause can send donations, payable to Watchet Library Friends, to Mr Irven at 3 St Decuman's Heights, Watchet, TA23 OFL.