Forgetful borrowers have forked out almost half a million in city library fines in the last five years.

Glasgow city council have pocketed around £440,000 in charges for overdue items since 2009.

The penalties are issued to people who forget to return books, CDs or DVDs on time.

Almost £100,000 went into the local authority coffers in 2009 for the charges, but the figure has steadily decreased each year since then.

So far only £45,620 has been collected for fines in 2014, compared to £74,570 in 2013 and £68,278 in 2012.

In 2011, £72,767.22 was collected by Glasgow Life, who run the city's libraries, while in 2010 they received £82,863 for the charges.

Despite the staggering sums, Glasgow Life insist they try to make the facilities as accessible as possible to city residents.

Under 16s are exempt from the penalties for books, and adults' fines are capped at £12.

Overdue books are charged at a rate of 50p per week, up to a maximum of £3.50, while DVD fees are capped at £4.50.

One of the reasons for the decrease in fines last year, a spokesman said, could be related to the launch of the Glasgow Libraries app which allows people to renew loans on their accounts from smartphones.

In the last year, more than 100,000 members borrowed 2.1 million items from the 33 libraries across the city.

A spokesman for Glasgow Life said: "Fines for the late return of books at Glasgow Libraries work out at less than one pound per active member per year and are capped at a maximum of £12.

"Books can be renewed on line or at any of the 33 libraries across Glasgow and books borrowed by under 16's aren't subject to fines.

"In 2014 more than five and a half million visits were made to libraries in person and on-line and over 2 million book loans were made.

"Glasgow Libraries continues to offer a huge range of services from free e-books to family history services to bounce and rhyme sessions to non-clinical community based cancer services through Macmillan@Glasgow Libraries."

As reported by the Evening Times, Glasgow Life held a one month amnesty for guilty book borrowers in 2012.

They waived the fees, which were capped at £10 at the time, in the hope of encouraging embarrassed borrowers to return their overdue loans.

hannah.rodger@eveningtimes.co.uk