LIBRARY fines are set to increase by a third and music and theatre lovers will face price rises of up to 500 per cent under the latest belt-tightening exercise by County Hall.

Proposals to impose a rise from 11p to 15p, in late fees, have been rubber-stamped by a county council chief.

And steep rises have been passed for everything from talking books to orchestra and choral scores and plays, from May 1.

County library service officials say the library fees, while rising by 36 per cent, have not increased since 2005.

Spoken word items will cost £1, instead of 50p, and 40 copies of a vocal score will now incur a £10 levy, rather than £5.

An orchestral score will set musicians back £20, as opposed to £5, and play sets rise from £2 to £10, under plans approved by county councillor Mike Calvert, adult and community services cabinet member.

Richard Jones, executive director of adult and community services, said: “Those individuals who do have a specialist interest in accessing a particular book, piece of information or image are paying for a specialist service which would be impossible to offer all sections of the community within the financial constraints we have to operate in.”

Under the same package an additional £5 administration fee will be imposed for fax, post and e-mail digital copying.

People will also be charged weekly, monthly or annual fees, ranging from £15 to £100, for taking photographs of records using their own cameras. The daily charge of £5 remains the same.

Just recently Blackburn with Darwen council also made increased its library fees, and reduced the number of concessions on offer.