A PEMBROKESHIRE County Councillor has defended plans to close or merge services in Pembroke and Pembroke Dock, including the library and Tourist Information Centre (TIC).

In an effort to reduce costs, the county council is trying to reduce the number of buildings that it operates from.

Bob Kilmister, the cabinet member for finance, said that Pembroke and Pembroke Dock would be classed as tier-two towns, meaning they will have to share some services.

"We've looked at all the buildings to make sure we offer the best services possible," he said.

"The criteria I have set as a cabinet member is that each of those buildings has to be satisfactory for its purpose for the next five years and if they're not suitable then we should tackle that now and not wait."

The county council hopes this will save around £1 million and that it will enhance the services on offer as they will be able to offer more services in each building.

"We're quite happy to continue a library project in Pembroke," Cllr Kilmister said.

"We don't think it's in the right place, we don't think it's sustainable."

The town councillors expressed concern at the potential closure of the library and TIC.

Cllr Jon Harvey was concerned that Pembroke as a historic tourist town, should have a TIC and library for its visitors and that to lose those services would be "short-sighted."

However, Cllr Harvey did concede that there probably is a better location for the library.

"But until we find a better location in the town we need to safeguard the library because the worry is, we lose the library we will never get it back," he said.

The cabinet member responded, saying that TICs no longer make money. In the past, they had been funded through commission earned from hotels booked through them.

Kilmister stressed that if they wanted the library moved it would be for the community to decide where it should go.

Deputy Mayor, Linda Brown, pointed out that the county council had bought the old surgery and then left it unused. Which she said was a larger space, in a better location, that has now been "horrendously vandalised."

The county councillor said he was quite happy to do an asset transfer if there are building available.

"If there was a solution on the horizon, that library provision would be maintained where it is. This isn't about hack and burn," he said.

The town council has set up a sub-committee to come up with a solution.