A FRESH delay has hit a troubled project to replace public toilets in Wellington town centre which have been closed for the past three years.

A new toilet block in Longforth Road is now not expected to be ready until the middle of the summer.

The toilets were damaged when a car crashed into the building in December, 2022, and later demolished because of its dangerous state.

Town council plans to build new toilets were delayed for many months by protracted negotiations with both the car driver’s insurance company and its own insurers.

Then, ground works to prepare the vacant site were due to start in January this year but had to be delayed until February because of Storm Chandra.

The council then announced it expected a new £220,000 modular design toilet block to be delivered in early May, but this was postponed until mid-June due to a hold up with the manufacturer.

Now, it has said the installation date has been put back until Sunday, July 26.

A council spokesperson said: “Longforth Road will need to be closed for a period of time to allow the installation.

“When our contractors applied to Somerset Council for a road closure for the original delivery date of June 16, they were advised that a road closure that day would not be possible because of other road closures and planned works in the area.

“They also asked that given the importance of Longforth Road for deliveries to Asda and Relyon, we plan the installation for a Sunday to minimise disruption.

“July 26 is the earliest Sunday after the original planned date that all parties that need to be involved are available.”

While the toilets have been missing, the council has spent £20,000 refurbishing the town’s nearby coach park in anticipation of more coach tours stopping in the town.