A HUGE swathe of libraries, community centres and cultural facilities will be axed in Wirral, council leaders confirmed last night.

Amid chaotic scenes at a meeting of the ruling Cabinet at Wallasey town hall last night, council leader Steve Foulkes partly back-tracked on the controversial plans – but reiterated the need to make drastic cuts to leisure services.

In a partial climbdown, he said the Woodchurch leisure centre would now stay open, while a decision on Guinea Gap swimming baths would be put off until 2011. However, campaigners said the concessions did not go far enough.

Joe Taylor, secretary for the Wirral branch of Unison, said: “We welcome the news some facilities will stay open, but we don’t believe the council has gone far enough. They should be investing in buildings, not making wholesale closures.”

The meeting was held amid extraordinary scenes, with hundreds of people packed into the hall. They chanted, slow handclapped, blew whistles, and in some cases threw objects in the direction of where the councillors were to sit.

When Labour group leader Steve Foulkes at last entered the room, he was greeted with loud jeers and chants of “who are you.”

There were loud cheers when, at one point, he mentioned being “run over by a bus.”

As soon as the meeting began, the council’s Conservative opposition leader, Cllr Jeff Green – who is not a member of the ruling Cabinet – told councillors: “What you have done has ripped the heart out of this area.”

Last night’s meeting followed several weeks of public consultation over the council’s proposals, which saw passionate debate and mounting anger among the public.

Council leaders said the closure programme – or Strategic Asset Review – would save the authority £3.1m and keep down council tax bills.

It involved the closure of 13 libraries – including the flagship Birkenhead central library – two museums and the Pacific Road Arts Centre, along with a large number of community halls across the borough.

In their place, the authority would create new “multi-purpose complexes” at key sites around the peninsula.

Last night the ruling Labour/Lib Dem cabinet agreed to press ahead with the majority of the closures.

And campaigners were shocked when Cllr Foulkes revealed that the council now wanted to close Eastham and Woodchurch libraries, even though these were not mentioned in the original consultation proposals.

He confirmed that Birkenhead central library would close once a new multi-purpose facility was created in the town, and that alternative uses would be found for the historic building.