SIXTY five library posts are the be slashed across Hampshire in a bid to save up to £2m.

Hampshire County Council unveiled the cost cutting plan to avoid a predicted £1.3m overspend in its £18m libraries budget.

But it has pledged not to close libraries or reduce opening hours.

The job losses will include library mangers, supervisors, assistant supervisors and library officers.

Unions said staff were left shocked by the scale of the cuts - more than one in ten of the workforce.

Unison library Steward Steve Squibbs said: "It's going to be a massive loss to the public. We cannot see how they will be able to continue to deliver the same level of service. Our members are furious about it."

Library boss councillor Margaret Snaith-Tempia, said: "In the face of tightening public finances and tougher times ahead with an unprecedented level of savings to be found, the county council is continually looking for ways it can provide more for less, to find better ways of working and give good value for money.

"Libraries are not immune from these financial pressures and while innovation and partnership working can help us reduce costs, these alone are not enough to offset the pressures.

"A lot of work has gone on to reduce costs as much as we can through vacancy management and not replacing colleagues who have left or retired. But it has become inevitable that we need to reduce staffing costs."

She added new self-service technology and flexible working would mean no closures or a reduction in opening hours among its 53 libraries.