CAMPAIGNERS in Moors villages are still on a knife-edge over plans to close public toilets.

In a surprise move, councillors in Scarborough seem to have backed away from axing lavatories in three Esk Valley beauty spots.

At a meeting last Friday, members of the borough council cabinet deferred a decision on the future of the toilets.

Campaigners' hopes had been raised when an earlier meeting of the health committee decided to recommend that the lavatories be kept open.

But the cabinet is now seeking more talks with the North York Moors National Park on the possibility of a partnership deal to run the facilities. Parish councils could also again be asked to help out.

The matter will come before the cabinet again on February 22 but any decision will have to be ratified by the full council in March.

At a meeting of Danby Parish Council on Wednesday, clerk Pam Reeves said the fight to save the toilets was not over.

"But I don't know what else we can do," she said.

If the proposed cuts go ahead, walkers and visitors will be left with just one public convenience - in Castleton.

Others in Danby, Westerdale and Commondale would be shut down in a cost-cutting exercise.

Scarborough's cabinet decision came in the face of fierce opposition to the plans.

Danby chairman Coun Herbert Tindall, who has spearheaded a long battle to save the conveniences, was pleased with the reprieve.

He has been joined by fellow parish councillors in fighting the closure plans.

Members accused Scarborough of being prepared to return the North York Moors to the Dark Ages. One councillor said the closures would turn the moorland into an open sewer.

Excitement started to build earlier in the week when it was revealed the cabinet was being urged to keep the toilets open.

"It had been looking a bit bleak until then," said Coun Tindall, who is also a Scarborough councillor.

He said a flurry of protest from groups such as walkers, the WI and other parish councils had helped the campaign.

"We have just kept at them and at them," he said. "And the fight will go on. It is sensible to keep the toilets open and for the borough council to look at other sources of funding.

"We have put a lot of hard work and a lot of time into fighting these proposals. We don't want to go back to the Dark Ages."

A lot of literature aimed at walkers features the public toilets and walk leaders often organise routes around "comfort breaks".