PLANS to do away with one of the busiest public toilets in Marlborough to make way for a new tourist information centre and council offices, have been slated by local traders.

The idea of changing the use of the basement of the town hall has come from members of a working party set up by the town council to explore ways of re-opening the tourist information centre.

But the scheme has been resolutely opposed by the Chamber of Commerce and by traders at the twice-weekly markets.

They claim the public lavatories are well used by the public and by stallholders and customers and should be retained.

Traders said if, as it is claimed, the conveniences are not up to acceptable modern standards, Kennet District Council have a duty to modernise them regardless of expense

Last October, the cash-strapped district council closed the tourist information office in the George Lane car park in a bid to slash £80,000 off its budget.

Talks are now ongoing between Kennet and Wiltshire County Council about the possibility of merging the TIC with the Local Information Point in the town library.

However, the town council working party has taken the view that the space at the library is already overcrowded and that other venues should be explored.

On Monday, working party chairman Coun Graham Francis, told the town council that several alternatives had been considered including re-opening the existing TIC building, or moving into a retail outlet in the town centre.

He said that talks with Kennet about using the existing TIC building had met with an emphatic no.

Plans to use a shop had also failed to come to fruition leaving the town hall public conveniences as the best option.

Coun Francis said there were two reasons for putting forward the scheme. One was that the toilets are in a bad state, but Kennet has no funds to restore them. The other reason was for security.

He said the toilets were below the council chamber. As they were open round the clock and not monitored in any way, there was always the risk of fire spreading up into the town hall.

He added: "It's the Gunpowder Plot all over again."

He said a tentative plan prepared by local architect Nigel Clark showed that the area occupied by the toilets was big enough for a TIC and town council offices.

Coun Stewart Dobson said: "It proves that this building can be utilised in a far better way that it has been for years."

Coun Hilary Cripps said the toilets at Chantry Lane were not accessible to wheelchair users and if the town hall toilets closed, it would leave just George Lane toilets for the disabled.

The council agreed to pursue the idea and to look into the possibility of carrying out the scheme in partnership with Kennet and Wiltshire County Council.

Philip Marsh, Chamber of Commerce president, was concerned. He said: "As much as we all want to see a tourist information centre open again this is really not a good idea.

"There was talk of it going into the library. To put it under the town hall would involve great expense and we would lose a well used facility."

Eddie Grandy, spokesman for the market traders, said: "It's a stupid idea. The toilets are well used by stallholders and by the public. There are lots of places they could put a tourist centre."