Call for charges to spend a penny at Ludlow toilets

Vivienne Parry has urged Ludlow Town Council to consider introducing a charge to use the toilets in the town's Castle Street car park.

The Shropshire councillor for Ludlow South says it would allow the council to pay for extra cleaning at the toilets – which are causing a bit of a stink in the summer months.

She said that complaints from residents, market traders and visitors needed to be addressed.

She said: "The main problem is the smell. Busy toilets like these require cleaning at least four times a day at the height of the tourist season and the waste bins regularly emptied.

"At the moment they do not receive anything like this degree of attention and the smell at times has been appalling.

"Market traders and local shoppers have been particularly vociferous in their complaints but we also need to bear in mind the impact it has on our visitors.

"A lot of people work hard to sell Ludlow's image across the country, but issues like this do not help."

Councillor Parry said that the problem required a little extra expenditure to boost the cleaning hours, at least over the summer months. She said: "The town council, which maintains the toilets, either needs to find the extra from its budget or install the pay turnstiles it bought some years ago. Even if we only charged for the summer months it should cover the extra cleaning costs.

"I asked the town council's services committee at their meeting last week if they would consider these options - I urge them to come to a quick decision.

"Most towns now maintain their toilets to a high standard. Ludlow has a great public image but we need to act quickly on this issue for the benefit of everyone who uses our beautiful town centre."