AN ARSON-hit toilet block in a Herefordshire town will be locked between 6pm and 8am.

A meeting of Bromyard Town Council agreed to cut the recommended opening hours of the toilets in the town's Tenbury Road car park, the most recent full council minutes reveal.

The decision came after the council's properties committee heard from the properties officer that there had been issues at the toilets, including problems with drainage.

The committee in June resolved to instruct the properties officer to engage with drainage engineering specialists to determine the hydraulic capacity of the drains and issues with drainage, and to recommend to full council that the toilets be opened from 6am to 8pm from April to the end of September, and 6am to 6pm during the winter.

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But when the proposal was put before full council in July, the most recent minutes reveal, a motion to amend the opening time from 6am to 8am year-round was carried, with councillors agreeing to approve the recommendation as amended, with the toilets to be locked overnight.

A further meeting of the council's properties committed heard on September 11 that the toilets had suffered an act of arson on August 22, which was captured by the town council's CCTV and clearly showed those involved.

"The incident has been reported and this footage has been passed to the police," a report to the committee said.

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It is not the first time there has been trouble for Bromyard's toilets, which have previously been hit by vandals including in 2020.

At the time, Bromyard and Winslow Town Council was forced to temporarily close the loos, which were renovated at a cost of £25,000 after the council took them over from Herefordshire Council, after the electronic components that control the door locks were damaged.

Councillor Roger Page said at the time that the electrics had been ripped out, leaving the doors unable to lock.