BUSINESS owners are seeking compensation from a council because of a mobile library.

They say they have lost earnings after a mobile library housed in a coach-style vehicle was parked outside their premises in Eltham High Street.

Ian McLean, who runs Percival Cameras, says the mobile library blocked shoppers' views of his shop, beauty salon Total Beauty and dry cleaners Clean Tech, and took up all their customer parking spaces.

The camera shop and dry cleaners claim they lost trade worth up to £15,000 between them since the mobile library was put outside their premises six days a week at the end of January.

However, the owner of the beauty salon has declined to say how she was affected financially.

All three businesses are considering a joint compensation claim against Greenwich Council and are calling for a reduction in their business rates.

Mr McLean, 56, said: "With the library outside, it turned trade off.

"We will ask the council to compensate us. This could be by reducing our business rates by half or more.

"Otherwise we might sue for our joint losses."

The mobile library was bought to replace Eltham Library, which was closed in January and will reopen as part of the new Eltham Centre in October.

Although the traders complained about the effect the library was having within two weeks of it being placed outside their premises, it was only moved further down the High Street last week.

It is now outside St Mary's Community Centre.

Tony Collins, 41, from Clean Tech, who saw his business drop £300 a week since February, said: "No-one has been able to pick up their stuff because of the library being parked outside from 8.30am to 4.30pm.

"It would be nice to have something from the council."

Last week, public services union Unison claimed the council planned to reduce the library service from six days a week to one day a week because of the problem of where it was sited.

But the council has denied this.

A council spokesman said: "We have relocated the mobile library in Eltham High Street in response to concerns expressed by some businesses with the original site.

"We have not received compensation claims from any businesses."