CAMPAIGNERS in Huddersfield in West Yorkshire “arose like lions” yesterday in a protest against a council plan to close libraries.

They used a giant inflatable lion for their demonstration outside Huddersfield Town Hall where councillors were debating proposals to close 16 libraries or hand them over to volunteers at a cost of 100 jobs.

The clench-fisted protesters even recited words from Shelley’s epic poem Masque of Anarchy which ends with the words: “Arise like lions from your slumber, In unvanquishable number, Shake to earth your chains like dew, Which in sleep had fallen on you, Ye are many — they are few.”

The protest was organised by Huddersfield, Halifax and Bradford branch of union Unite Community.

Ten-year-old Ava-Maria Diallo told the Star: “I’m here because we don’t want the libraries to close. It’s horrible what they’re doing. Everyone likes libraries but they’re closing them down.”

Inside the council chamber protesters handed in a 2,100-signature petition opposing library closures.

Unite Community spokesman Chris Strachan told councillors: “In the second world war the number of libraries in our communities was increased.

“If it could be afforded then, why can’t we keep our libraries going now, in one of the richest countries in the world? The cuts are not necessary.”

The Labour-controlled council says government cuts are forcing it to make “hard decisions” and that councillors are working to keep open as many libraries as possible.