Tenby’s De Valence public conveniences have been closed, with one town councillor reaffirming that they were ‘never public toilet’ facilities in the first place.

At a recent meeting of the town council, inconsiderate members of the public were slammed by Clr. Mrs. Christine Brown, who also sits on the De Valence Trust, for abusing the venue’s toilets over the summer.

Clr. Mrs. Brown stated that people seemed to think that the De Valence conveniences were there for the public, but they were only opened as a courtesy for events, such as Ironman Wales, and were in fact just for people attending events booked at the venue to use.

“The toilets have been regularly abused over the summer, with sand and water left on the floor. One day I witnessed a family with four children coming off the beach to change in the toilets! It costs us £600 per month, so over £7,000 a year to keep these toilets open - with electric, cleaning, toilet products and insurance,” she told her colleagues.

Speaking at Tuesday night’s meeting of the town council, Clr. Mrs. Brown said that both the ladies and gents toilets had now been closed, with the disabled facility left open for users of the premises’s cafe.

The Mayor, Clr. Sue Lane, agreed with the decision.

“It’s not just the cost, the facilities have to be checked and cleaned on a regular basis, and as the venue only has volunteers working, there just isn’t enough here to step up to it. They never have been public toilets any way,” she said.

Clr. Mrs. Tish Rossiter agreed that it had been a ‘grey area’ in the past, as once Pembrokeshire County Council provided grant funding to such a facility.

“People just assumed that if the grant money carried on, then the facilities could be open to the public, but the money was withdrawn,” she commented.