Toilets to close over 'abuse and soaring costs'

The public toilets in Milnthorpe are not well-used, the parish council says

A village's public toilets are to close due to "regular abuse" and spiralling maintenance costs.

Milnthorpe Parish Council, in south Cumbria, said the decision to shut the facilities at The Square from 1 September was difficult and had "taken several months to make".

The annual net costs of about £10,000 are currently being met through council tax and council reserves, it explained, having been covered by a grant from the defunct South Lakeland District Council until two years ago.

Westmorland and Furness Council, which is now the landlord of the site, has been approached for comment.

Entry to the toilets is 50p, but the parish council said there were "low numbers of people" using them, including "many non-residents".

In all, they are used about 250 times per month - a total of 3,000 times per year - it found.

'Inappropriate use'

The authority said maintenance, energy bills and the price of toilet rolls was "soaring".

Each use costs taxpayers the equivalent of £3.50 once the entry fee is deducted, it calculated.

It warned there continues to be "regular abuse" of the facilities with a door being propped open, vandalism and "inappropriate use of the radar key" intended to provide access for disabled users.

It said it recognised the closure "may inconvenience a small number of people" but it had to act for "the benefit of the whole village".

It added toilets elsewhere in Cumbria, such as Cartmel, Ambleside and Windermere, "have suffered the same fate".