MANCHESTER'S Central Library is set to shut for YEARS under emergency plans to save three of the city's most important buildings.

Secret documents obtained by the M.E.N. show it could cost £150m to secure the future of the library, town hall and the town hall extension.

The grade 2-star listed library - one of the biggest in Britain and visited by more than a million people a year - is riddled with asbestos and needs major work to secure its `structural integrity'.

Huge sums are also needed to `halt deterioration' of the town hall, opened in 1877 and seen by many as Manchester's most famous landmark.

Senior councillors have now drawn up a plan which means the library being temporarily closed and its collections moved to the town hall extension.

They also want to close Lloyd Street to traffic and build an underground car park for town hall use below the Peace Gardens, the M.E.N. has learned.

A private briefing paper drawn up for the ruling Labour group by finance chief Bernard Priest describes the library as being `of enormous heritage value', but having `a number of serious problems'.

"Urgent attention is needed to deal with asbestos, fire safety, access and structural integrity," it says. "Proper solutions will be very expensive indeed and may lead to the temporary closure of the library, possibly for a period of a few years."

Coun Priest warns the council must spend a minimum of £105m or watch the three buildings `deteriorate on our watch'. A further £45m must be spent, he adds, to `rejuvenate' the buildings `as the centrepiece of our modern Manchester and our modern Labour council'.

That could include opening shops on the library's ground floor and adapting the town hall extension for new office space.

It is understood the council has no clear way of footing the £150m bill - £380 for every man, woman and child in Manchester.

Officials have previously suggested about £10m could be secured from National Lottery grants.

Coun Priest said: "The proposals are at a very early stage and it is premature to talk about funding options.

"This is part of a wider strategy . . . to ensure the buildings remain the centrepiece of our cultural and civic heritage.

"The library is an old building and we need to examine how we ensure it is available for generations and can continue to play an important part in modern Manchester."

Coun Mike Amesbury said any maintenance work to bring the library up to date `may involve a temporary closure and relocation'. "But this is still some way off," he said, "and we will ensure the services it offers are not disrupted."

Coun Simon Ashley, leader of the opposition Liberal Democrat group, said: "We have grave concerns that these much-loved facilities are going to be closed for such a long time.

"There needs to be some guarantee that the public will have access to library facilities while this work is going on.

"If Labour knew that they needed such huge sums, why are they only doing something about it now?"

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