A 100-year-old Worcester firm will have to find a new home after council bosses approved a compulsory purchase order to pave the way for a £50m super library.

The fate of Coombers, based in Croft Road, was sealed after the city council cabinet voted in favour of moving the firm off the land.

The decision came despite the firm sending a solicitor to the meeting to plead its case one more time.

Under the plans for a major new library - a joint project between the county council and University of Worcester - the firm is required to move to provide green space.

David Hallmark, representing Coombers as it fights against removal, said: "The disappointment is that not one council officer, not one councillor and not one planning officer has been to see them.

"Coombers has suffered the distain of councillors and the arrogance of officers. Their site is not needed and does not provide an impediment to the library or its access, but there has been a determination that Coombers has to be destroyed before anyone has come and told them."

The city council wants the library to stand out and is committed to removing all the buildings in Croft Road, including Coombers.

The firm, which sells specialist educational equipment such as PA systems and recording equipment to schools all round the world, will have the value of the land assessed by an independent inspector to help it relocate.

It has traded in Croft Road since the 1960s.

City council deputy leader Coun Barry Mackenzie-Williams said: "This library scheme is a prestigious national project that will have international flame and flavour.

"Once built it will be here for centuries to come, and therefore it needs to have the right setting. The library will create a great deal of extra employment.

Discussions are set to take place about the re-location of the site.