Thousands of borrowed books in Merton aren't returned back on time each year, but Merton Council won't replace them unless they are asked.

A Freedom of Information request submitted by the Wimbledon Times revealed that since the start of 2014, a little more than 18,500 books have either been returned back to the library late, or not returned at all.

But when asked how much is cost the council to replace these long forgotten books, it admitted that not all would be "due to the sheer amount it would cost."

Merton Council’s member for community and culture, Councillor Nick Draper, said: “Our award winning libraries continue to go from strength to strength, with Merton announced as the top borough in London for library service usage, whilst maintaining an excellent level of customer satisfaction.

"Merton library users borrow over 700,000 books each year, a reflection of the high service usage and satisfaction, reminders get sent to users before and after books become overdue to ensure they are returned on time, allowing the book to be enjoyed by others.

"A very small proportion of users do not return books, and in these cases, these people will be prohibited from using the library service until items have been returned and fines paid.

"The book will be replaced if there is evidence of demand for that item.”

So where are the worst offenders in the borough for tardiness?

Well from 2014 until the end of June this year, 3662 books borrowed from the Morden library failed to be brought back on time, but even this wasn't enough to top the charts.

With combined figures from Mitcham and Raynes Park libraries reaching a staggering 8212 over that same time frame.

This was in stark contrast to the remaining libraries.

Wimbledon came in at third with 2645, followed closely by Pollards Hill with 2319 then Colliers Wood at 1076 and finally with the least amount of books not returned on time was West Barnes with just 652.