VISITORS to a world heritage site in North Queensferry will no longer have to cross their legs or rely on the hospitality of local businesses when they need to spend a penny.

The Forth Bridge is a major attraction for the village but the removal of their only public toilet three years ago by Fife Council, due to budget cuts, has been far from convenient.

That's set to change with plans moving forward for new facilities at the car park on Battery Road.

Local councillor David Barratt said: "We've now had three designs to look at. The original one was a composting toilet with a gap under the door which none of us felt was acceptable.

"They've come back with designs for two pre-fabricated versions, one is stone-clad and the other is timber-clad."

Automatic toilets costing £15,000 a year – and making a loss of £10,000 a year – were removed by the council in 2018.

This decision was branded a "disgrace" by a local resident who said they had caught several tourists "doing their business" beside their home.

It was also claimed that businesses in the village were so fed-up with people coming in just to use their toilet that signs were put up to stop this.

Moves to replace the toilet have picked up although suggestions of a railway-theme design were shunted into the sidings last year in favour of a “more simplistic” approach.

Speaking at the North Queensferry Community Council last week, Cllr Barratt added that the proposed toilet block with wood finish would be cheaper and that it "looks like it could be installed without looking absolutely horrific but it's certainly not as nice as the stone-clad".

The community council determined that if the preferred stone finish was over budget they would approach the world heritage committee to see if they could help with the cost.