£200,000 refurb of vandal-targeted Market Drayton toilet block set to begin
A £200,000 major refurbishment of a Market Drayton toilet block which has been plagued by vandals is set to begin.
Work to transform the Towers Lawn toilet block will begin next Monday (October 6) Market Drayton Town Council has announced.
The refurbishment is expected to take around eight weeks to complete. In the meantime, alternative public toilets will be available at the Town Hall off Frogmore Road.
The total cost of the project is £211,730. Shropshire Council has contributed £50,000, with the remaining funds covered by the town council.
The refurbishment follows years of repeated vandalism at the site. In one incident earlier this year, a toilet cubicle door was smashed down and a sanitiser dispenser was broken.
Other instances have seen graffiti sprayed across toilet cubicles, persistently blocked toilets, and general vandalism to the facility, costing the local authority large amounts to fix.
Due to ongoing vandalism, civic leaders have repeatedly considered closing the facility.
Renovation plans for the toilets were submitted to Shropshire Council in November last year. As part of the refurbishment, the toilet block will be fitted with "vandal-proof" cubicles.
In addition, the refurbishment will support plans to improve bus station facilities located next to the toilet block. The revamped building will also include a new drivers' rest room.
The £50,000 contribution from Shropshire Council has come from its allocation of Government Bus Service Improvement Plan funding, in line with the effort to upgrade local transport infrastructure.
