A COMBINED Morton Village Society and Keighley Town Council initiative should ensure a threatened public toilet block in East Morton will remain open.

Bradford Council warned earlier this year that as part of major cost-cutting measures, it would no longer be able to fund the facility.

Members of the village society had already been volunteering to open up the loos each morning on a rota basis.

Keighley Town Council’s allotments and landscapes committee has now put forward a plan to allocate cash for the toilets’ upkeep.

The committee’s proposals need to be approved by a meeting of the full council.

Committee chairman Councillor Brian Morris said the East Morton toilets were a well-used asset that deserve to remain open.

“Hopefully, we’ll be taking over the running of the toilets during the next financial year,” he said.

“There is a bit of work needs doing on them, but nothing major.

“It’s another service we want to retain, which will benefit people such as walkers, bus drivers and residents.

“We’re doing this in partnership with Morton Village Society, which will be dealing with the opening and closing of the toilets, while we’ll be paying for and providing the equipment and funding any repairs that need doing.”

He added that his committee is prepared to allocate £3,000 for the toilets for the 2015/16 financial year, noting Bradford Council had agreed to cover the costs of electricity and water for one more year.

“At some stage, we’d like to upgrade them because they still have the old porcelain toilets, and stainless steel is easier to clean,” he said.

Morton Village Society chairman David Miller said he was “delighted” the town council might be taking on the running of the loos.

He added that while a team of volunteers have been opening up the toilets each morning for several years, Bradford Council will no longer be locking them from February 15 next year.

“We still need to arrange who will be locking the toilets after that date,” he said.

“We don’t think the cost of the toilets’ upkeep will be too severe, and I don’t think they’d need cleaning every day.

“They are there for the good of the people who come to visit the village.

“Often, when I’m talking to someone outside, it’s amazing the number of people I see driving through East Morton who stop and nip into the toilets.

“At some point in the future we’re going to put an honesty box on the outside of the block, so we can get a small amount of money in return for people using the toilets.”

lWhat do you think? We welcome letters on this or any other subject. E-mail richard.parker@keighleynews.co.uk or write to The Editor, Keighley News, 80-86 North Street, Keighley, West Yorkshire BD21 3AG.