Politicians have given the go-ahead to a proposal to replace a free service providing visually-impaired residents with talking books with a subscription to a charity library.

At a meeting of Hertfordshire County Council’s cabinet on Monday, members voted unanimously to scrap Cassettes for Blind People (CfBP) in favour of a similar service operated by the Royal National Institute for the Blind.

Christopher Hayward, cabinet member for localism and libraries, said: "I am particularly delighted to be bringing this to cabinet.

"It will allow partially sighted people in the community to have a much better service than the one we have been able to provide in the past."

The existing service offers its 378 users across Hertfordshire the opportunity to listen to 6,500 titles.

However under the Royal National Institute for the Blind’s system, residents will have access to more than 19,000 different titles. Robert Gordon, the leader of the council, showed his support for the scheme when he chaired Monday’s meeting.

He said: "It does seem to be a splendid development."

Now that the change has been given the go ahead all residents who currently receive books from the CfBP will automatically be given a new subscription.

In order to be eligible, residents must have a Certificate of Visual Impairment signed by an ophthalmologist.

New applicants will also be subject to screening for low income.