Police patrols requested after several failed arson attempts at Builth Wells public toilets

In one of the latest incidents someone set a pair of knickers on fire and then stuffed them and toilet paper down the toilet in the Groe car park.

Thankfully, the incident came to nothing but town clerk Louise Hammond said it was the latest in three attempted arson matters at the site.

She said she has requested more regular patrols around the toilets from Dyfed Powys Police because of rising vandalism.

Mrs Hammond told a meeting; “It’s becoming a regular occurrence, a bit of a problem and its costing us money. What is really worrying is that at some point they are going to be successful in causing a fire at the toilets.”

Builth Wells Mayor Councillor Gwyn Davies said: “We seem to have a problem after school with groups of individuals, we have spoken to the police about it but nothing seems to have happened.”

Mrs Hammond said Builth Wells is not the only town council experiencing problems with their public toilets. She said some councils have given up and handed the keys back to Powys County Council, which will close them and she said Llandrindod Wells, Rhayader and Knighton Town Councils have also experienced issues.

But she said in the past Builth Wells Town Council has closed the toilets early but that move was criticised by the public.

“It’s becoming a big problem and its costing us a lot of money now and it’s a real concern,” she added.

The toilets were also flooded in Storm Darragh and although they have been cleaned out and re-opened, the council lost a lot of hygiene stock, such as toilet rolls in the flood and will have to re-order more.