UNDER fire public services in Abergavenny - including toilets - are being lined up as possible casualties in a massive £500,000 housekeeping clear-out by hard-up County Hall.

Besieged town councillors are being asked if they can bail out the budget-hit authority by taking over traditionally vulnerable but vitally important provisions.

Possible casualties of the £130,000 squeeze on Abergavenny are litter collections, public toilets, the town’s museum, maintenance of showpiece Bailey Park and the library.

They have been listed by County Hall as possible services the town might manage for them as they struggle to make overall savings of an estimated £7 million.

The biggest impact could be on toilets with the county asking the town council to help them save £70,000 by managing car park conveniences.

Councillor John Prosser said he would love to keep open every single toilet in the town - but the reality was that ‘sensible decisions have to be made.’

He felt the White Horse Lane toilets, in need of costly renovation, might be an affordable loss -despite their high usage.

Councillor Douglas Edwards felt the popularity of the White Horse Lane toilets was a valid reason for keeping them open.

He said the numbers using each identified toilet were vital in considering which should go or stay.

Councillor Nick Tatam reckoned all the toilets could be kept open if they were the subject of ‘conscientious cleaning.’

The full implications of the MCC handover of services will be discussed by the town’s finance committee next month.

The remaining £60,000 worth of County Hall savings involve Bailey Park maintenance of £25,000, town centre sweeping operations of another 25,000 and reducing town library opening hours by 4-5 hours a week and closing the museum for a day, saving £10,000.

A town council ‘workshop’ meeting at the Town Hall last Tuesday to discuss the £130,000 deal agreed that members were not happy to increase their budget by the amount quoted.

But they agreed that further work needed to be done to decide what services should be taken on.

At the meeting Councillor Prosser said it was likely the town would take on liability for all the MCC toilets, but let White Horse Lane go.

The money saved by closing them would be spent on the upkeep of the important bus station toilets.