The people in Greenwich bucked the national trend by visiting local libraries in their droves, official figures have shown.

There were more than 240,000 visits to Greenwich libraries last March, up 9 per cent on last March and the highest monthly figure on record.

On top of that, the over two and a half million visitors to Greenwich libraries in the past 12 months is the highest annual total on record.

Book issues in March were up 12 per cent on figures for the same month in the previous year, marking eight months of continuous growth.

Children in particular have been flocking to local libraries, with book issues to children this March were up by 16 per cent on last year.

Greenwich council have said that on the reasons why is their libraries have modern electronic equipment with self-service checkouts.

Another is thanks to the popularity of the Greenwich One Card, an all-in-one library, leisure centre, and local discounts card.

Councillor Denise Scott-McDonald said: “While other local authorities have closed many of their library and leisure facilities, Royal Greenwich’s direct £12.2m investment in these essential community hubs continues to pay dividends.

“We are ensuring that our libraries meet the demands of the digital age through first class ICT provision and the adoption of innovative technologies such as tablets, high performance printers and scanners and Amazon lockers.

“The results speak for themselves with more residents using our libraries than ever before.”