LEADING members of Mebyon Kernow have called on Cornwall Council's cabinet to abandon their attempts to reduce the budget by almost 50%.

Callington's Mebyon Kernow councillor Andrew Long was a member of the working party looking at how the proposed budget cut of £2.85-million to £1.49-million in expenditure on public conveniences would actually affect the 247 toilets the council presently runs.

The conclusion was that the reduced funding would mean the council would have to cease funding 114 toilets, including Gunnislake, Sungirt in Liskeard and Minions.

Cllr Long said: 'For two years, Mebyon Kernow has been leading the calls for more detail from behind the headline budget figures presented by the administration running Cornwall Council. Each time they have failed to do so.

'The working party was one of the first ones to have actually dug down to see how the details will actually work in the real world. It is now time for the cabinet to hold its hand up and admit its budgets are unachievable and have not been thought out properly.'

At a recent meeting of the council's environment and economy scrutiny committee, MK councillor Dick Cole opposed the cut and persuaded fellow councillors to back a call for the cabinet to review the amount of monies available for public toilets.

Cllr Cole added: 'Cornwall Council has got it wrong. I believe it needs to revisit how it agreed the savings expected from the budget for public conveniences, as well as a range of other areas, which are simply unachievable without significant impacts on local communities.