THE opening times of public conveniences in Tavistock were last week slammed as 'an absolute disgrace' during a meeting in the town.

Cllr Philip Sanders told members of the town council's finance committee that there were no public toilets open in the town centre after 8.30pm on a Saturday night — a situation he found appalling.

'For a town this size, winter or summer, it's an unacceptable situation, an utter and complete disgrace. They were all locked at twenty to nine in the evening,' he said.

'I don't consider the present arrangements to be even remotely satisfactory. People won't come back here and there are other inevitable consequences,' said Cllr Sanders.

Cllr Anne Johnson said closing public conveniences would only, ultimately, encourage anti-social behaviour.

'I just don't think this is acceptable,' she said.

The committee asked the town clerk to write to West Devon Borough Council, which is responsible for public conveniences, urging the authority to extend the opening hours for the facilities.

A spokesperson for the borough council said the Guildhall and Wharf toilets in Tavistock were closed after the final clean of the day, which could be from 6.30pm onwards.

They were opened by the street cleaners, from 7am onwards — exact times depended on the cleaning/street cleaning rota, said the spokesperson.

'The bus station toilet is open 24 hours per day and therefore always available. And of course the disabled toilets at both the Guildhall and the Wharf are available to anyone with a Radar key.

'Closing the toilets overnight was introduced some time ago because of anti-social behaviour.

'However, we will be discussing various possibilities, including extending the opening hours for the summer, with our contractors, Focsa, in the next couple of weeks,' said the spokesperson.