FURIOUS residents in South Zeal have handed a petition to West Devon Borough Council in protest at the proposed closure of the village's public toilets.

The borough council's environment committee decided earlier this summer that a number of public conveniences in the borough should close, in an exercise designed to shave some £9,000 off the budget.

But the decision has infuriated residents, who are determined to fight the closure.

Cllr Bill Cann, chairman of South Zeal Parish Council, said: 'There are very strong feelings about this — we are not going to take this sitting down.

'We've just lost our post office — we're not going to lose our toilets as well.'

Cllr Cann said the toilets, which are situated in the recreation field, are well used by the community, by the football club, by visitors using the Tarka Trail and when events are laid on in the field.

He said thousands of people attended the recent Dartmoor Folk Festival, when the public toilets were invaluable.

'They haven't consulted us about this, they just said it's closure and that's it,' said Cllr Cann, who estimated the petition now numbers around a thousand names.

'What we are saying is on health and safety grounds we are not going to wear this. We certainly think it's discrimination against rural parishes — we are being denied our basic human rights,' said Cllr Cann.

The petition was handed over to West Devon ward member Cllr John Darch on Tuesday evening.

Cllr Darch said: 'I was very disappointed with this decision and I intend to fight it.

'Unfortunately, no decisions can be changed for six months under our standing orders, but I certainly intend to do all I can to overturn this.'

Cllr Darch said the South Zeal public toilets were a 'very important' facility, given that the village was within Dartmoor National Park.

'We get a lot of visitors and walkers who look to use these facilities — they're something we just can't afford to lose,' he said.

Public toilets in Sampford Courtenay and Northlew are also likely to be closed following this summer's decision.

A public meeting is being held in Northlew next Monday, September 2 in the Victory Hall at 7.30pm, to assess reaction to the proposal.

John Grierson, chairman of the parish council, said: 'I think people are pretty uptight about it and West Devon is abrogating its responsibilities.

'There's been no consultation about it and they went on some dubious figures from about four years ago.'

Cllr Grierson said the closure would affect visitors and traders and it could also cause problems when public events were held in Northlew.

Sampford Courtenay parish clerk Marilyn Weeks said residents felt 'very strongly' about the decision to close the village toilets.

'We are organising a petition at the moment which has had a very good response. We want to fight this and keep them open — we live in a lovely area and we hope to attract visitors to the village — it seems silly to close public conveniences.'

David Inman, borough deputy chief executive, said the cuts had to be made to save £10,000 in the budget.

Toilets in rural areas had been targeted because according to recent water usage figures, they are the least used.

He said: 'We already have 27 sets of toilets in West Devon and we are not maintaining them to an acceptable standard.

'Whilst I sympathise with people in rural areas who might think they are being picked on, the toilets in rural areas are the least used.

'We are meeting with the parish councils involved and we are encouraging them to think about taking the toilets over and suggesting various incentives we might be able to offer to assist that process.'