Whitchurch is to finally get a library – 50 years after plans for one were first discussed.

Great grandmother Cathy Butler, 77, hoped to get a part-time job in the library when her children were small – but retired more than a decade ago, having worked at the library in nearby Stockwood.

The original plans for a library in Whitchurch came to nothing and over the decades the proposal was resurrected and then scrapped again, usually because of a lack of money.

Last year Bristol City Council planned to build a £1 million library when the old Whitchurch Health Centre, off Oatlands Avenue, was pulled down.

The plan was to build a new health centre with a library next door and flats above.

But then the housing market collapsed and only the new health centre was built.

The council also earmarked £100,000 in its revenue budget to stock and staff the new venue. Now that money is to be used to create a library in the former Lloyds Pharmacy opposite the health centre.

Mrs Butler, of Wells Road, doesn't need a job in the library now, having worked as a school library service assistant and in Stockwood library before she retired at the age of 65, 12 years ago.

But she is pleased that the area will have a library at long last.

She said: "I moved to Whitchurch in 1960 and I heard there was going to be a library.

"I had been a library assistant in Coventry and I thought I could get a job when the new library was built.

"I've got 14 grandchildren and one great-grandchild now. I hope to get to the library before I have to come in on my Zimmer frame."

Simon Cook, executive member for culture, sport and capital projects, confirmed that the project had been given the go-ahead.

It is expected work to refit and stock the building will start soon and the new library is due to open in February or March next year, serving both Whitchurch and Hengrove.

Mr Cook said: "I'm delighted we can at last get on with this project, which was a key manifesto commitment in this year's local elections."

The project is the result of long campaigning by local Lib Dem councillors Mary Sykes and Jos Clark, who represent Hengrove, and Tim Kent of Whitchurch Park.

Mrs Sykes said: "People have been agitating for this for years. I haven't been able to go to a single meeting locally without someone asking, 'When are we going to get our library?"

Mrs Clark said: "The residents will be very relieved that this long-awaited and much-promised library has finally arrived."

Tim Kent said: "People in this area resent the fact that they pay high council tax and get so few facilities. The library will be the first of many facilities which they have been waiting for far too long."