Library users will have to visit a mobile unit to get their books as the village facility is to close while it becomes the latest to receive a complete refurbishment.

Councillor Henry Higgins told members of Harefield Tenants' and Residents' Association (HTRA), about the four-tosix-week closure due to start on October 13.

A mobile library will be in the car park in Park Lane during that period and, if books are returned late, there will be no fines while the main library is closed.

Members of HTRA, concerned about whether the meeting room next to the library, where they have their monthly gatherings, could be used during that time, were reassured by Councillor Higgins.

He said: "The new library will be more open and airy and we will increase the children's area. It will have new windows down to floor level, more computers, a bigger children's section and homework club, a Starbucks coffee area, and library opening times will increase."

Coffee will be 30 per cent cheaper than in town outlets, with profits buying new library books. At Ruislip Manor library, £6,000 has been made from coffee sales in ten months.

After being shown the plans, Pauline Crawley, chairwoman of HTRA, said she was concerned the village centre was being reduced to make the library bigger, and was also worried about losing the lobby, as groups use it at the moment.

She said there should have been a meeting about the refurbishment with user groups, as Mr Higgins's briefing, at the end of last month, was hastily sandwiched between a talk on credit unions and planning issues.

Some members said they were not very keen on people chatting and drinking coffee around the books, but another said she had not found this the case at Ruislip Manor.

One member said: "I want a quiet place with decent books, not a community hall."

Mr Higgins said: "At Ruislip Manor the numbers using the library have gone up from 30 per cent to 70 per cent. We have 17 libraries in this borough and they were used by between 20 and 26 per cent of the population.

"We didn't want to close libraries, which was the alternative, and we have been nationally acclaimed for doing this."