A MOBILE library cannot stop in a road it has served for more than 20 years because it is in the wrong council area.

The county split into Cheshire West and Chester (CWAC) and Cheshire East has left residents in Pickmere on the wrong side of the boundary for their usual service, even though it passes through the village on its fortnightly route.

Pensioner Aundré Edwards, of Wellfield Close, said: “The library has come to the close from Northwich for the past 23 years.

“Now, believe it or not, the library van passes our close when travelling between Wincham and Great Budworth but is not allowed to stop here. It’s ridiculous, it really is.”

Wellfield Close now has a different service but it calls on a Friday morning instead of the usual Wednesday afternoon, which the residents found more convenient.

Aundré said: “It now comes on a Friday morning when many of us go for our weekend shopping or to the infirmary.

“We got to know the two people on our mobile library and came to depend on them – seeing them was like greeting friends.

“We’d go and see them and chat with anyone else who was there.”

Until local government reorganisation on April 1 Cheshire County Council was responsible for all library services across the whole county.

After that date responsibility was split between the two new unitary authorities, CWAC and Cheshire East, with Pickmere falling within the Cheshire East boundary while Northwich is in the CWAC area.

Aundré said her new service now comes from Alsager.

“It used to come from Northwich, three miles away, now it comes from Alsager – 20 miles away.”

A Cheshire East spokesman said: “It is a priority to ensure all communities who benefited from the mobile library service provided by the former Cheshire County Council continue to do so under Cheshire East Council.

“As part of our commitment to providing the best possible service, we will be regularly reviewing how the new arrangements are working and are always happy to receive feedback from library users.”