BYE Street toilets in Ledbury have been re-opened, but Church Lane toilets have been closed on several occasions in the past month, and it is all down to mindless vandalism.

While Bye Street toilets are run under licence by the Love Ledbury group, the Church Lane loos are run by Herefordshire Council - raising fears among some town councillors that the authority might keep them closed, if continual repairs prove to be too costly.

This has been refuted by Herefordshire Council; but the authority may re-assess the way Church Lane loos are managed, although further details are still to be announced.

Herefordshire Council communications officer, Michelle Morgan said: “The public toilets in Church Lane in Ledbury have unfortunately been vandalised on two occasions since the end of September. The vandalism requires a temporary closure of the facility whilst repairs are organised and completed. The repairs are costly and the closure causes unnecessary inconvenience for those visiting and living in the town.

"There are no plans to close the facility; however, undertaking repairs caused by repeated vandalism could result in the council re-evaluating the way the facility is managed.”

A Herefordshire councillor for Ledbury, Cllr Liz Harvey said at a recent town council meeting that Love Ledbury, of which she is a member, is to put notices in the Church Lane toilets "asking people, if they use them, don't abuse them".

She said of the vandalism, "This is sad to see."

The Reporter understands that it is a cubicle door in the male toilets that has been vandalised on several occasions.

Cllr Derek Durham said: "Surely CCTV should be picking this up? It's happened twice now in a matter of weeks."

Ledbury's mayor, Cllr Bob Barnes replied: "There are no CCTV cameras inside the toilets."