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Herefordshire public toilets closed to save £250,000 | Herefordshire public toilets closed to save £250,000 |
(35 minutes later) | |
All public toilets in Herefordshire are to be closed to save money, the council has announced. | All public toilets in Herefordshire are to be closed to save money, the council has announced. |
Herefordshire Council said it costs £250,000 a year to maintain its 25 toilets. | Herefordshire Council said it costs £250,000 a year to maintain its 25 toilets. |
The council said people will be able to use facilities at 14 shops, pubs and other businesses to have signed up for their Community Toilet Scheme instead. | |
No toilet will close until "alternative provisions" are in place, a spokesperson said. | No toilet will close until "alternative provisions" are in place, a spokesperson said. |
The Conservative-led authority has cut £21.1m from its budget over the past two years. | The Conservative-led authority has cut £21.1m from its budget over the past two years. |
It said it needed to save another £32.2m over the next three years, because of cuts in government funding. | |
Councillor Russell B Hamilton said existing public toilets were not "all that good" and local businesses would benefit as more people went into them. | |
'Extra loo roll' | 'Extra loo roll' |
"We want to save money for taxpayers because we are under pressure but this did not start from that point of view - it started from doing something positive," he added. | "We want to save money for taxpayers because we are under pressure but this did not start from that point of view - it started from doing something positive," he added. |
Sherry Stanley, who runs a pub in the centre of Hereford that is one of the businesses letting the public use its toilets, said: "There really isn't that much extra cost involved - maybe one extra loo roll a week." | |
Sylvia Silver, who runs a hotel in Bromyard, believes tourists will be put off from coming to the town if there are no public toilets there. | Sylvia Silver, who runs a hotel in Bromyard, believes tourists will be put off from coming to the town if there are no public toilets there. |
"[The council] has made a serious mistake in not understanding that people would pay for public toilets as they do in Stratford or Paddington station," she said. | "[The council] has made a serious mistake in not understanding that people would pay for public toilets as they do in Stratford or Paddington station," she said. |
Bernard Hunt, a town councillor in Bromyard, called the closure of public toilets in the town "a dreadful idea". | Bernard Hunt, a town councillor in Bromyard, called the closure of public toilets in the town "a dreadful idea". |
"We know that Herefordshire Council is in dire financial straits but there are all sorts of ways they could economise to make up this relatively small amount of money," he said. | "We know that Herefordshire Council is in dire financial straits but there are all sorts of ways they could economise to make up this relatively small amount of money," he said. |
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