Bishop's Castle toilets stay open as drug fears probed
A town hall toilets which were discovered to have been used by drug abusers will not shut overnight yet, as councillors have agreed to talk with police.
Just months after Bishop's Castle Town Hall reopened following a £700,000 renovation, evidence of drug use was found in the newly re-located public toilets in the building.
Town councillors have now agreed to hold fire on closing the toilets to the public at night while they gather more information from police on exactly what happened and what could be done about it.
Mayor of Bishop's Castle, Councillor Karen Bavastock, said the toilets were agreed to be open 24 hours a day after the reopening of the hall at the start of July - but the town council did not want to do anything to assist drug abuse.
At a meeting earlier this week councillors discussed shutting the toilets overnight, but have now decided not to take action until more facts are available form police on the nature of the problem.
Councillor Bavastock said: "What we decided is to speak to police about the situation, and review it in a month's time.
"We need to look into the facts, it's not fair to make a decision without them.
"There has been only one incident as far as we know, so we need to speak to police to find out if there is anything else."
She said councillors had not been told the exact nature of the "evidence" found, but hoped not to have to close the toilets.
"We're hopeful the toilets will stay open all the time, that's our intention," she added.
The re-launched town hall has been hailed as a success with markets, events and exhibitions drawing in the public since its re-opening after more then a year of work.
Before the renovation the public toilets used to be locked up late in the evening, but it had been agreed to trial toilets accessible 24 hours a day as part of the re-opening.
