THE only public toilets in a town are set to be pulled down seven years after they closed.

Loos owned by Copeland Council at the Chapel Street car park in Egremont will be demolished after the council’s planning panel approved the details of the demolition.

Planning officer Christie Burns told the panel it was meeting to consider the method of demolition and site restoration, not the principle of the removal of the building.

She said: “While the permanent loss of this facility is unfortunate, this cannot be considered as part of the application as the works fall under permitted development.

“It is however considered that the details submitted as part of this application ensure that the site will be demolished in satisfactory manner and the site will be restored appropriately.”

The application was recommended for approval.

Councillor Michael McVeigh, who was the only member of the panel to vote against the application, said: “Just from me being a town councillor in Egremont, I am very sad that this came to, but as we all know, we were subject to some dramatic cuts.

“It was looked at from a town council perspective but the cost was so prohibitive, it was unfeasible.

“There has been no other funding available since seven years ago; we are where we are and that’s just one of the tragedies of the dramatic cuts we’ve had to suffer.”

Councillor Jackie Bowman added: “I have no problem with it if it needs to be done, my only question is I think if I’m correct there is a disabled toilet there, so what is the provision for disabled toilets in Egremont now?”

It was confirmed that there were no other public toilets available in the town.

Three objections to the demolition had been received by the council which said there was still a demand for the toilets and that they should be provided in an area which was looking to promote tourism.

It also said there had been opposition to the original closure and that the toilets should either be updated and reopened or replaced.

A report prepared ahead of the meeting said the site would be cleared after the demolition and could be used for more parking spaces in the future.

A survey identified “negligible” potential for roosting bats in the building.