POPULAR public toilets in Stourport will be demolished next month despite pleas for them to stay.

Wyre Forest District Council will knock down the Bridge Street toilets because of vandalism and misuse.

Andrew Dickens, head of the council's cultural, leisure and commercial services division, said the toilets, which had only remained open during the day in recent weeks to limit vandalism, had twice been set on fire.

He said: "With the toilets already earmarked for permanent closure it is not practical to initiate further refurbishment and the demolition will now be brought forward to the end of June.

"Investigations are now continuing into the provision of alternative facilities for this area similar to the 'superloo' in Dog Lane car park in Bewdley.

"This will result in the return of 24-hour toilet provision in Stourport and, allied to the existing Riverside Meadows toilets, provide suitable facilities for the town."

However, townsfolk have said tourism and health will be put at risk without the toilets, which were earmarked for closure in March last year along with those in Broadwaters, Kidderminster, in a bid to save the council £10,000.

District and town councillor Michael Grinnall, Stourport Business Association chairman Russell Hinton and nearby residents have said people will urinate in the streets and tourists will desert Stourport if the toilets - the only set open in the town centre during flooding periods - are shut.

They fear the public will not walk to the Vale Road facilities when the Riverside Meadows toilets are inaccessible.

At last Thursday's Stourport Town Council meeting Mr Grinnall said: "The idea of replacing the toilets with a superloo, which caters for one person at a time and often malfunctions by locking people in, infuriates me."

Councillor Vi Higgs added: "Does the district council expect people to cross their legs and hope for the best?"