Campaigners fighting plans to close libraries across the West are to join forces and battle council chiefs in the courts after a dramatic day in the saga.

In Somerset, solicitors working on behalf of library users won another injunction temporarily preventing the county council from going ahead with the closure plans at a court hearing in Taunton.

They will now ‘roll up’ the legal battle with library campaigners in Gloucestershire, who have already succeeded in securing a judicial review of the cuts plans.

As that hearing got underway, campaigners 46 miles away were left “absolutely distraught” after a fiery meeting of Dorset county council in Dorchester ended with plans to close nine libraries there going through.

So many members of the public packed into the public gallery that they spilled over into the council chamber itself – but, after two hours of debate, the council cuts plan was passed by 21 votes to 20, with half a dozen or so Conservative councillors voting against their ruling party.

“To sit through the debate and then lose by one vote like that has left us gutted,” said Mike Chaney, the chairman of the Friends of Puddletown Library and spokesman for Ad-Lib, the association of library groups challenging the council’s cuts plan.

“The debate was extremely lively and we were absolutely distraught that this decision was taken. All the MPs, and a wide range of authors and celebrities had told the council in no uncertain terms that their plan was not the way forward. They had an option to save some money but not close any libraries and did not vote for it. Now, we will wait to see what offer the council makes us in terms of taking on our libraries ourselves, but it will be extremely difficult.

“At the moment in our library on its own, we’ve got 15 volunteers and we’d need about 45 to run it completely, and that is unlikely. We’re working with the group in Somerset and we’d like to get involved in their legal action if we have to,” he added.

Somerset’s legal challengers were told they would have to raise the amount of legal bond they put up, payable if they lose the case, from £5,000 to £11,000, and that their injunction did not apply to the mobile library service, with which the county council can now continue its plans.

Gloucestershire’s library campaigners have already succeeded in obtaining a judicial review, which is due to be the second of its kind in the country. The first, involving the London borough of Brent, which ended last night with the judge reserving judgement. Campaigners across the West are arguing that council chiefs are not fulfilling their obligations under the 1964 Public Libraries Act to properly assess the impact of their closure plans.