DEVIZES Town Council has voted to take over the superloos in the centre of the town and the toilets on The Green to save them from closure.

A special meeting was held on Tuesday evening to discuss the issue after Wiltshire Council announced all of its public conveniences would close at the beginning of April unless other organisations took them on.

Councillors voted to take over the large modern superloo building in the West Central car park which it is estimated will cost it £50,000 a year to run and the dilapidated toilets on The Green which at the moment cost £7,496 per annum.

Members agreed it was vital to have the superloos if the town wanted to keep its coach friendly status and saw the opportunity to create much better toilets on The Green.

Deputy Mayor Jane Burton described the old toilets as disgusting and others agreed they were not fit to be used by parents with young children who use the nearby play area.

But Coun Sue Evans said: "We need to keep the ones on The Green. They are not the best at the moment but they could make them one of the best."

There was also a suggestion from Coun Judy Rose that the office at the superloo could be used as a tourist information point with leaflets.

Tony Aldridge from Devizes Area Tourism Partnership was delighted with the town council's decision. He said: "The Council decision was great news, and reassuring to see the unanimous appreciation of the importance of tourism and the key ingredient of the award winning superloos."

People pay 20p a time to use the superloo which has won a number of accolades in a national loo of the year award and he Mr Aldridge said it was now important to look at ways to maximise this income.

Toilet attendant Brian Adcock said this week: "People who use the superloo are always very impressed with the way they are kept. Some are a bit surprised they have to pay but when they see how clean they are kept they are very happy."

The toilets were even praised on Channel 4's Gogglebox show by Wiltshire couple Mary and Giles.

Mr Aldridge along with a number of councillors was surprised by Wiltshire's sudden announcement that town and parish councils had to decide so quickly about the transfer. Devizes had wanted to wait and negotiate a package of services it was willing to take over.

In a report to the committee councillors were told: "Whilst it was made clear that at some point Wiltshire Council will no longer be able to run these facilities it was not clear that it would be so soon."

This week Wiltshire councillors were sent an update on the state of play of toilets throughout the county, which was not made public, but has been seen by the Gazette.

A traffic light system of red - under threat of closure - amber - under discussion - and green - safe was used. In Marlborough the George Lane car park toilets are showed as green and will be taken over by the town council from March 31.

Toilets in the danger zone include Castle Combe and The Pippin, Calne.