A HUGE response to a public consultation over a new-look Sidmouth Library has delayed when the major re-vamp will begin.

More than 300 people had a say over proposals for the Blackmore Drive premises.

Devon County Council (DCC) chiefs are looking at feedback - but say the high volume of comments and suggestions means the start date for work may need to be put back.

They need sufficient time to amend designs to reflect the consultation responses.

Work is now likely to start after the library’s busier summer months.

Once the consultation results have been analysed, the next step will be to work with designers to come up with plans that reflect public opinion.

Councillor Roger Croad, DCC’s cabinet member responsible for the library service, thanked all those who gave their views and hailed the response as “excellent”.

He said: “We’ll now analyse the results and then work with designers to incorporate people’s comments into more detailed plans.

“We want to take the time needed for the designs to be right, and to reflect what the local community wants. Thanks to such a good level of response, we’ll have a good idea of what that is.

“Because we want to avoid closing the library over the busier summer holiday season, we’re likely to postpone the start of work until September or October.”

Sidmouth’s county councillor Stuart Hughes added: “This high level of response goes to show how much people care about it.”

He told town council colleagues at a meeting last week that people have asked for a larger study area in the library.

DCC will display the new detailed designs in the library, and on its website at www.devon.gov.uk/sidmouthlibraryproject.