An overhaul of Thetford's public toilets in an attempt to stop antisocial behaviour was mooted at a meeting of town officials.

An overhaul of Thetford's public toilets in an attempt to stop antisocial behaviour was mooted at a meeting of town officials.

The town council, which is responsible for all public toilets in the Thetford, was forced to close disabled toilets on Cage Lane last month and then again this month because drug paraphernalia was found at the site.

At a meeting last week of the Town Council Amenities Committee a number of solutions were suggested. No decision will be taken however until the matter has been discussed at a full meeting of the town council.

A number of ideas were put forward by the town's works supervisor, Barry Wall, which included closing the Bridge Street toilets to the public but giving a key to coach drivers which regularly picked up and dropped passengers off at the nearby bus station.

Meanwhile, a currently unused room at the Cage Street toilets would be converted for an attendant who would be present from 9am until 5pm in a bid to stop trouble there.

The attendant would also be able to speak directly to a CCTV controller via a radio who could then focus on any trouble hot spots.

“I believe the changes would enable us to provide a cleaner, safer service to the people of Thetford,” Mr Wall said.

Chair of the amenities committee, Terry Jermy, added: “In many ways it would be an improvement of the service we have.

“The only difficulty is shutting the Bridge Street toilets to the public. The toilets aren't a luxury but a necessity for many people.”

The toilets are the responsibility of the council who employ an attendant to maintain them twice daily.

However sanitary bins have been found to be used for stashing drug paraphernalia and members of the public have complained of them being left dirty and unusable.

The issue is likely to be discussed at the May town council meeting.