'Mindless vandals' causing public toilet damage

Public toilets in a North Yorkshire town are being blighted by a "sharp rise" in vandalism and anti-social behaviour, a councillor has said.

According to Knaresborough Town Council's maintenance team, the facilities at the bus station are being targeted on an almost daily basis.

Matt Walker, who represents Knaresborough West, described the damage to the conveniences as "disgusting".

As a result of the recent vandalism the toilets at the bus station are being temporarily closed, and all public conveniences in the town will now close at 18:00.

"I am deeply disappointed and disgusted that Knaresborough's public toilets have seen a sharp rise in vandalism and anti-social behaviour recently," said the Liberal Democrat councillor.

"I'm hopeful the mindless vandals will be caught soon.

"These facilities are there for everyone, and a small minority are putting their future at risk through this unacceptable behaviour."

In a recent report, the team responsible for the upkeep of the facilities said that "every night one or both toilets have been subject to a high level of vandalism".

They said the conveniences had been left "in a complete mess with roll after roll of toilet roll being soaked and chucked all over the place".

North Yorkshire Council's executive member for corporate services, Heather Phillips, whose responsibilities include community safety, said: “Pointless vandalism like this puts extra pressure on resources, reducing the time available to maintain and improve other facilities across the network, and adversely affects responsible users.

"We will continue to work with North Yorkshire Police to tackle pockets of disorder and take enforcement action where appropriate. We always utilise our CCTV cameras to assist investigations and ask that incidents are reported to ourselves or the police.

"We appreciate the patience of the wider public as we respond to these issues."

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