COUNCILLORS are turning toilet attendants to ensure essential public conveniences are maintained over the Easter holidays.

Northallerton town councillors decided to do it themselves after being told employees were not prepared to staff the public toilets on Easter Sunday. Members were told a classic car rally is being held in the town on the day and it was felt they couldn’t allow the toilets to remain closed.

The town’s only public facilities are based in the town hall, and have to be unlocked and locked as well as cleaned by staff. But at this months town council meeting it was proposed that the toilets remain closed on Sunday but would be staffed on Friday, Saturday and Monday.

When asked by councillor John Prest how much it would cost to cover staff to work on Easter Sunday Clerk Jill Johnstone said none of the staff were prepared to work that day.

Mayor Cllr John Forrest said: ”There is a classic car rally in the town on that day and I feel it would be a real shame if these toilets were not available. The High Street is closed for this classic car rally and I think it would be detrimental to this council if these toilets were not opened.”

Deputy Mayor Cllr Claire Palmer said:” I do find this difficult, I know what would happen if I said I wasn’t going to work on a certain day. I don’t see how we can leave the toilets closed, are we going to do it ourselves? I will do it if other people will.”

Councillor Paul Atkin said it would depend on whether it was in the terms of contract for employees to work on Sundays and bank holidays.

A group of four councillors agreed to open, close and clean the toilets themselves on Easter Sunday between 10am and 4pm. Northallerton town council took on responsibility for the public toilets in 2011 when Hambleton district council passed control for all public toilets to parish and town councils. At that time public toilets in the town were costing over £30,000 a year to run.

Former public toilets in the Applegarth car park in Northallerton which had been previously used were closed when the town council agreed to operate the toilets in the town hall for public use.

The Applegarth toilets were subsequently transformed into a Costa Coffee café.