WILTSHIRE TIMES EXCLUSIVE: A LIBRARY user is taking steps to sue Wiltshire County Council for malicious prosecution following a two-year war over missing books.

Liam Silcocks lodged a complaint with the Local Government Ombudsman this week after council officers accused him of failing to return £30-worth of books, despite two of them being on library shelves all along.

If Mr Silcocks carries out his legal threat and wins, the council will face a legal bill running into thousands of pounds.

Mr Silcocks, 33, spoke this week of a determined battle to clear his name, his experiences of an 'incompetent' and 'aggressive' library service and the council's failure to investigate.

The 33-year-old ended up in court in March 2003 for failing to return three books to Trowbridge library, and was convicted and fined in his absence by magistrates in Chippenham.

Taking the case to appeal at Swindon Crown Court, Mr Silcocks gathered evidence proving two of the books had been in the library all along.

Three days before his appeal hearing last July, council solicitors pulled out and the conviction was quashed.

Mr Silcocks, of Trowbridge, said: "I felt pure anger. I could not believe the books were there all along and they were prosecuting me."

"One of the books had been lent to another user while another had been transferred to Melksham library.

"I went to Melksham following a phone call to confirm the books were on the shelves.

"By the time I got there the librarian said the council's legal services department had instructed her to pull them from the shelves.

"I knew all along I had returned the books. I consider this to be a malicious prosecution.

"When you take a library book back you do not get a receipt so I could not prove categorically to the court I returned those books. It was my word against theirs.

"I had a lot of ex-librarians as witnesses. They were going to testify library housekeeping historically is atrocious and that borrowers are often accused of not returning books, but they later turn up on shelves or back rooms."

Mr Silcocks' anger was fuelled when council chief executive Dr Keith Robinson refused to investigate.

In a letter responding to calls for an inquiry, Dr Robinson wrote: "I have concluded that there is no useful purpose to be gained on either side from a detailed and costly exploration of the issues surrounding the action taken by the council, which led to the proceedings in the magistrates' court and ultimately the upholding of your appeal."

Mr Silcocks said the council had a duty to launch an inquiry to save other users from false prosecutions.

"I believe there should be a transparent investigation and I will be notifying all the county councillors of my situation," he said.

"I want to know how much all this has cost the taxpayer already.

"A lot of elderly people use the library service, so if there is a situation where people are being wrongly prosecuted, the council has a duty to investigate.

"I have lost my faith in the council's ability to run a fair, just and efficient library service."

A county council spokesman said: "In this particular case we believe we have acted in the best interests of library users and local council tax payers."