HAMPSHIRE council chiefs have come under fire for wasting paper and postage in a mailshot on Winchester's new-look library.

A glossy leaflet and letter promoting the official opening of the £7m Winchester Discovery Centre next Tuesday (November 27) was posted second class to library ticket holders rather than individual households.

This meant families with more than one library member received multiple copies.

Mother-of-four Fiona Harvey, of Sutton Scotney, had five leaflets and accompanying letters drop on her doormat. Four were promptly binned.

She said: "It does seem ludicrous. This money could have put a few more books on the shelves."

Mike Mordecai, chairman of Winchester Friends of the Earth, said: "The council has a duty of care to minimise waste. The council needs to think things through harder if it is to improve its green credentials."

Vernon Tottle, of Itchen Abbas, meanwhile spotted a couple of grammatical errors and "schoolboy howlers" in the letter written by Neil Cole, director of the discovery centre. These included the title "Discovery a new generation of libraries."

Mr Tottle said: "Having recently sacked so many of their qualified librarians, it is clear that Yinnon Ezra, Hampshire County Council's director of recreation and heritage, could then find nobody with a reasonable command of the English language who could be appointed director of Winchester Discovery Centre.

"I hope to find Mr Cole in one of the new learning rooms reading a book on English grammar and usage, always supposing that his staff have remembered to buy one."

County council boss Ken Thornber defended the mailshot, saying: "Everyone has been working very hard to make sure Winchester Discovery Centre is open on time and that all the public know about the grand opening."

Mr Thornber said the council had a duty of care to inform Hampshire residents about the services it delivers and wanted to thank library users for their patience while no local service was available.

He said: "Direct mail is the single most effective way of targeting these individuals and we believe library users should be communicated with as individuals. It is not up to us to assume that a single communication to a household will make the rounds of all relevant members or to decide, for example, who the head of household is."

*What do you think? Do you share information with other members of your household? Add your comments below.