I WOULD like to thank all the organisers for the excellent carnival and protest this Saturday in Chelmsford.

Despite the weather it was a fun and friendly event with more than 600 people attending.

The campaign to save Essex Libraries now has the support of David Walliams, David Baddiel, Michael Rosen, Dame Jacqueline Wilson, Barbara Erskine and Len Goodman.

The only people who seem to support closures are the Conservative county councillors, all of whom have now voted against three motions that would have saved the libraries.

This is despite many of them representing areas where a library is under threat.

It was sad that not a single Conservative councillor or MP came to the march to hear first hand from children, poets and regular people about why a library is important to them.

For those Conservative councillors representing an area facing a library closure, it is hard to know if they do not understand the value of a library or do not care.

What is clear to me is they are failing at their role, which is to represent the views and the best interests of their division.

The decision is likely to made by cabinet on the July 23.

I would urge every concerned resident to lobby their county councillor on this issue to keep our libraries open because once these libraries are gone, they are gone forever.

Lee Scordis

Labour county councillor for Colchester's Abbey Division and district councillor for Rowhedge, Old Heath and the Hythe

Haddon Park, Colchester