Public toilets in the centre of Shrewsbury will remain closed for a further month after warnings from police that the site is a hotspot for a sexual practice known as “cottaging”.

Councillor Malcolm Price, of Shrewsbury Town Council, said the decision had been taken unanimously by the authority to close the dilapidated toilets in Butcher Row in February after receiving police advice.

Mr Price said West Mercia Police had warned the authority that the lavatories were being advertised on a national website for groups of men to meet up for anonymous sex.

The council said it had closed the men’s toilets after councillors heard that there were concerns the behaviour could jeopardise the safety of members of the public and of staff.

Mr Price said it was hoped the toilets would now either be given a makeover or demolished.

He said: “The toilets were on a national website to do with cottaging. Apparently we were on that site and people were coming from all over the country to Butcher Row toilets. We had that information from West Mercia Police who told us what was going on.

Monitor

“Hence we closed them pretty much immediately. We are going to monitor it and then make a decision about what we do which could mean demolishing it and building a new toilet block at ground level.”

Mr Price said the council’s other toilets were currently undergoing a programme of refurbishment and were being upgraded.

Sergeant Claire Greenaway, of West Mercia Police, said: “Town centre police officers were invited to a closed meeting of the council in February where the issue of toilets in the town centre as a whole was discussed.

“We advised about anti-social behaviour in and around the toilets, including incidents of a sexual nature. Following complaints about this behaviour, we monitored the premises and several individuals were arrested and cautioned.

“The council also had concerns about building maintenance issues and the lack of disabled access at the Butcher Row toilets and took the decision to close them as part of its capital programme for the provision and maintenance of toilets in the town centre.

“It said the future of facilities in the Butcher Row area will be the subject of further discussion.”

By Russell Roberts