Libraries in Kent have seen more than £200,000 of books, DVDs and computer games lost from their shelves in the last two years, figures show.

Kent County Council says stock worth £203,056 was either stolen, damaged beyond repair or simply not returned by customers between 2006 and 2008 across its 117 libraries.

County library chiefs say they do what they can to limit losses, including using debt collectors to chase people who have failed to return overdue books and other items like DVDs.

The council also said it would be willing to consider an amnesty if there was public support for the idea.

However, if items are still missing or unreturned after about five months, its policy is to write off the fines owed and the value of the items.

Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show that in 2006-2007, KCC wrote off nearly £97,000 of library stock.

That rose last year to £106,209, although the increase included books and other items that were damaged and lost in a fire at Ramsgate library.

In 2007-08, books valued at £87,700 were written off. Videos and DVDs accounted for £10,285; CDs for £4,458 and Playstation computer games more than £700.

While losses from individual libraries are not available, an area breakdown shows that last year, Thanet saw the highest amount of stock written off at £25,545, followed by Canterbury (£10,520) and Maidstone (£9,852).In Gravesham, £6,408 of stock was lost and in Dartford, £6,905.

Libraries in Tonbridge recorded the smallest losses of any part of the county, at £4,622, followed by Tunbridge Wells at £6,112.

Time for an amnesty?

Library bosses said the council made it as easy as possible for library users to return items but did not rule out the idea of an one-off amnesty.

A council spokeswoman said: "We encourage customers to treat library items, including books, DVDs and CDs with care and to return them on time, or renew them as appropriate. People can return their borrowed items to any library in the county, no matter which Kent library they are on loan from, to make the process as convenient and easy as possible."

The spokeswoman added: "Certain areas do appear to experience greater stock losses. These are often places where there are larger libraries with a greater number of items out on loan. We would be happy to consider an amnesty, if local people felt this might be helpful."

Reminders about ovedue items are sent out after two weeks and a month. If these are ignored after a further 43 days, debt collectors can be brought in, but if their efforts to recover the items are unsuccessful after about six months, the fines and items are written off.