THERE were red faces at Wellington Town Council on Tuesday (October 20) as new public conveniences had to be closed just eight days after they were opened following a wait of nearly four years.

The £220,000 modular building replaced a toilet block in Longforth Road which was badly damaged and later demolished after a BMW car crashed into the front of the block three days before Christmas, 2022.

The new toilets were finally delivered toward the end of July this year but remained closed for 11 weeks as a row broke out between the council and manufacturer Danfo UK Ltd over more than 80 faults which were said to have been found during an inspection.

Portable toilets were hired by the council for use during Wellington Carnival at the end of September, the cost of which is intended to be recovered from Danfo.

Eventually, the toilets were opened without any fanfare for public use last week, on Monday, October 12.

But, they were closed all day on Tuesday of this week because of a blocked drain, although no notice for people wanting to use them was posted on site.

The council posted a statement on its Facebook page which read: “Due to a drain blockage, the toilets at Longforth Road have been temporarily closed.

“We hope to see them open again as soon as possible and will keep you updated.”

The embarrassed authority then turned off commenting on the post, which prevented council taxpayers expressing their views.

The building contains two unisex cubicles, one with a baby changing facility, which will be open between 7.30 am and 7.30 pm daily.

A third cubicle is accessible with a RADAR key and also has a baby changing facility and has out-of-hours access available.