PUBLIC toilets across the Malvern Hills will close in just 12 days' time if district council proposals are approved.

Toilets in High Street, Upton and Market Street, Tenbury Wells will be offered for sale, while toilets in Victoria Road and Edith Walk in Malvern could be demolished.

If buyers cannot be found for the toilets in Tenbury, these will also be demolished and the site sold.

Upton's toilets will be 'mothballed' if a buyer cannot be found and then re-opened occasionally for events like the jazz festival.

All three town councils oppose closure, especially in Upton, and residents have also written in protest to MHDC.

The district council says closure is necessary because of the £22,000 cost of operating the toilets. It says better cleaning would cost an extra £25,000 a year, selling toilets in Upton and Tenbury could generate up to £47,000.

MHDC's executive committee, which meets on Tuesday, is set to recommend closure by the end of February. The final decision will be taken by full council.

Malvern Town Council chairman Ralph Madden said: "The district council is proposing to spend £6.5 million for new offices, having already spent thousands of pounds on staff toilets in the Council House, a large amount on the relocation of the depot site and subsidised the health authority to build two new surgeries on the vacated depot site.

"However, they apparently cannot afford to provide public toilets in the three towns, all of which have the attraction of visitors near the top of their agenda."