MALVERN Hills Conservators will spend £70,000 improving the public toilets at the Wyche.

The figure was approved at a meeting of the group's administration and resources committee on Wednesday

This follows £70,000 spent on toilets at British Camp two years ago and another £70,000 at St Ann's Well in 1999.

Conservators chairman Brian Wilcox said: "We want people to enjoy walking in the hills and we think providing public toilets is an essential part of this."

He said a large percentage of visitors to the area walked on the hills between British Camp and Worcester Beacon, many bringing picnics and staying all day.

"It's a particularly busy area of the hills and the toilets here are very important," he said.

The hills receive more than one million visitors and contribute an estimated £28m a year to the local economy.

"It's a number of years since any money was spent on the Wyche toilets and they need renovating and bringing up to modern standards," said Mr Wilcox.

An agreement with Herefordshire Council, which cleans and maintains the toilets, will extend this arrangement for the next 10 years.

Ralph Madden, chairman of Malvern Town Council, which opposed the recent closure of toilets in Edith Walk by the district council, said he was "delighted" with the Conservators' decision.

"It's a great pity that Malvern Hills District Council don't regard the provision of public toilets as important in the same way that the Conservators do," he said.