A NORTH Queensferry woman branded the decision to take away the village’s only public toilet a “disgrace” after catching several tourists 'doing their business' beside her home.

Community councillor Christina McKenzie said locals had been told Fife Council could do nothing at the moment about replacing the loo, which was removed a short time ago from Battery Road car park.

She believes the move is short-sighted for a village that continues to see tourism rise. The decision has left us with no facility and local businesses seem to be so sick of people going to use their toilets that they’ve now put signs up to stop them,” she said.

“I live at the end of Battery Road and over the last month I’ve caught short individuals on numerous occasions beside the bridge.

"Others have said that tourists are constantly asking them where a toilet is.

“I believe they are asking local businesses if they would allow the public to use their toilets if they receive some sort of payment and there will be a replacement but that’s not likely to come until next year. It’s just ridiculous and a disgrace. People want to see the bridges and the council should be encouraging others to come and see them too.

“We can already see the bother this is causing in just a short period of time and it’s very frustrating when you keep getting told there is no money to do anything.”

Councillor David Barratt told the Press that the council was working to replace the toilet but that it could cost £30,000 – a significant chunk of the area budget.

The decision to take away the self-cleaning toilet from Battery Road, which he said cost the council £15,000 a year to maintain, was part of the previous administration’s budget saving.

“It’s very unfortunate in the short-term that a facility has been taken away, but we are all working hard to find a more permanent solution,” he said.

“I hope it can be ready in time for next summer, in the meantime I’m looking into ways to provide a public toilet elsewhere by coming to some agreement with local premises.

“Maintenance costs for the new toilet are expected to be around £5,000, a lot less than before, and we’re hoping somewhere like Deep Sea World will be happy to sponsor this.”

Statistics from Fife Council suggested the public loo on Battery Road was hardly used.

Jeff Jacobs, Fife Council service manager, said: “Automated public conveniences were not well used and were also expensive to run.

"As part of wider budget savings and to ensure best value for public money it was agreed a number of years ago that as leases came to an end, we would not renew contracts for these facilities in Fife.

“The toilet in North Queensferry was one of the last to be removed and, like the others, was not a well-used facility.”