SUTTON Parish Council is looking at ways to stamp out vandalism in the revamped park.

The council has spent a lot of money on the park, but the new toilet area was mindlessly vandalised within a week of completion.

The old toilets situated near the two village pubs were closed earlier this year by the district council, mainly because they were a magnet for vandals.

The new toilets are available to park users, but are not open all the time.

The parish council at its recent meeting discussed the possibility of employing someone who would check the toilets on an hourly basis, replace rolls and generally prevent vandalism taking place.

They would be open during the daytime in the summer to accommodate the higher number of visitors to the area, but would very probably be locked at nights, particularly during the winter.

Local people using the park toilets have said that often local girls can be found in the men's toilets and boys in the ladies.

The council estimated the cost of a warden would be around £10,975 - based on the minimum wage - for year-round care of the facility. In addition national insurance and additional clerk's fees would bring the amount to around £15,000 per year.

Greg Robinson, head of environmental services at Craven District Council, said the cost of the toilets to the district council was around £3,000 per year. The parish council is hoping the authority will donate at least this amount towards maintenance.

A similar scheme is already operated in Kettlewell where the district council has agreed to maintain the newly-opened toilet complex to the tune of £5,000 for the next seven years. After that it has no further obligation to maintain them.

Mr Robinson also stated in a letter that the local authority had no statutory obligation to provide public toilets.

A spokesman for the parish council said repair costs had to be met by the council. But this was an unknown quantity from year to year and employing a warden could be a cheaper option.

The park already has a park keeper, but his additional duties mean he does not have time to look after the toilets as well.

If funding cannot be obtained for a warden, the alternative could be visitors having to travel to Cross Hills to use its public conveniences.

Parish council chairman Chris Suri suggested writing back to Greg Robinson to negotiate a payment towards running the new toilets. "I do think that £3,000 is fairly derisory and I think we should be able to expect a far more realistic contribution from the district council," he said.