THE Bank Holiday festival in West Malvern should become an annual event, parish council chairman Joyce Roberts said this week.

"I've heard nothing but praise and excitement about it," she told Mon-day's council meeting.

The event raised more than £10,000 for Leapfogs, West Malvern Church Appeal and West Malvern Football Club.

Parish councillors will also ask Malvern Hills District Council to improve access to a local bus stop.

The bus stop at the Dingle is next to a public toilet the district council is to close down and demolish.

The clerk was told to write to the district, asking if disabled access to the bus stop can be improved at the same time as the toilet is knocked down.

The toilet has been closed as part of a cost-cutting measure by MHDC; it also has a history of anti-social behaviour.

The closure was deplored by local resident Cedric Jackson, who said: "The village has no post office, chemist or shop and we're now going to do without the toilet. I think it's a great shame."

Members heard plans are afoot to install a new water pipe to the allotments.

Parish clerk David Sharp said he was looking into the cost of replacing picnic tables and benches at the playing field, which had been vandalised earlier in the summer. It was suggested he do further research into the cost of pine and recycled-plastic furniture.

No quotation has yet been obtained for new equipment at the children's playground. Chairman Joyce Roberts said such a "sylvan setting" needed rustic-style equipment.