A HAMPSHIRE library has launched a fund-raising appeal because of flood disruption.

Chawton House Library near Alton has seen visitor numbers hit by problems with access as the A32 has been closed at nearby Farringdon, as well as a lack of basic hygiene facilities.

Several events have been cancelled although the house itself, the Centre for the Study of Early English Women's Writing 1600-1830, is not in danger.

The library has had to pay for sandbagging to protect the church and resource the extra man hours to help protect the estate.

Stephen Lawrence, chief executive, said he was hoping to raise £10,000.

Opened in 2003, the library has a collection of some 9,000 books. At one time the house was owned by the brother of novelist Jane Austen who died in Winchester in 1817.