Abergavenny Town Council has expressed its dismay at Monmouthshire County Council over its management of the situation regarding the public toilets in White Horse Lane, which town councillors fear may now lead to a charge for using the facilities.

Costs for the projected refurbishment of the toilets have escalated over the past three years, and now exceed £90,000, and the town council feels that if work had been completed earlier it could have avoided these increases.

Speaking at a recent meeting of the town council, Councillor John Prosser, said, "I've been at the forefront of action to improve the toilet facilities in Abergavenny, and have fought long and hard but there are continuous obstacles getting in the way.

"First MCC said we needed maps to show where the drainage was which we quickly rectified, but then they told us costs have kept going up"

"I am dismayed at this level of disruption to any work, and the fact that there has not been any progress to the work so far in providing usable and appropriate facilities for our town."

The ongoing saga of the White Horse Lane toilets was first brought up by the town council back in 2010 when it discussed the problems of the 'offensive smell' emanating from the men's toilets as well as the overall state of the facilities .

As the facilities have more than double the amount of use of those in Castle Street, the town council opposed MCC's proposal to close the site and sell it for commercial purposes.

A plan was drawn up for the county and town councils to each pay a substantial amount of money towards the refurbishment, which however, was later deemed insufficient.

Roger Hoggins of Monmouthshire County Council said, "The town and county councils are working together, and we contributed around £40,000 each, to try and get the project up and running, but unfortunately this budget did not stretch to cover the work required.

"We searched around for a variety of specifications, and we had plans redrawn several times but it was still a struggle to be affordable."

Now however, the town council feels the delay has increased the cost so much, it has made it difficult to retain the public convenience - which councillors feel is a vital asset for the tourist town - without further subsidy.

Councillor Prosser said, "I anticipate that with further cutbacks for the county providing any funding for this project will prove difficult, but I hope that they can see its importance for our town, as the White Horse Lane toilets have shown that they are well used.

"As a tourist town we need to have these facilities in order to stand up against all of the rest, because in every other town there will be suitable and clean facilities for visitors and residents to use."

With the county under no obligation to provide toilets and the possibility of funding being withdrawn, the town council says that it could consider charging for using the toilets, or even a partial site takeover for commercial purposes.

Councillor Prosser said, "There have been discussions which looked at imposing a charge for using the facility, which could be a valuable option for us to consider.

"I think that if there was a certainty that the facilties were state of the art and regularly cleaned, people would be willing to pay, I know that I certainly would."

Councillors also suggested the closure of the less popular Castle Street toilets, with any savings used to subsidise the work on the town centre facilities.

Mr Hoggins, said, "We have not given up on the idea of renovation as opposed to removal, we just need to look at the designs and avoid anything that could increase the cost of the renovation, and we are also supportive of the idea for a facility charge to help move the plans on more quickly."

Councillors hope to meet Mr Hoggins this week when issues such as payment and sponsorship for the toilets will be discussed in more depth.

Councillor Prosser added, "As a long time advocate for these facilities, I do hope that following our meeting with county that we can make some progress on this, to ensure that our town has the best facilities for everyone who visits or lives here."