WEST Somerset residents look set to be asked for their views on how best to spend £450,000 on upgrading and improving the district's public conveniences.

Having come under fire from various quarters, including Porlock Parish Council, for closing toilets without any consultation, West Somerset District Council is now keen to be seen to be asking questions before taking action.

On Monday, members of the council's cabinet will be asked to approve a £5,000 public consultation exercise before the authority commits itself to upgrading and building new toilets.

The authority's public relations consultant, Julia Netherton, said: "The council believes it is important to act on the priorities of the public, rather than simply following its own thoughts on what is best for residents.

"The council wants to know if any new toilets should be built - suggestions so far include the eastern end of Minehead seafront, close to the golf club - and which toilets need to be brought up to a charter standard and how they should be run."

Plans for tackling substandard toilets across the district were publicly discussed by councillors earlier this year, when members were told all of the council's public conveniences were below acceptable standards.

They were told many toilets needed to be demolished and rebuilt, while £15,000 needed to be spent immediately just to bring the electrics up to scratch.

Since then, toilets on Minehead seafront and at Dunster Steep have been improved, but a decision to close Parson's Street toilets in Porlock without warning sparked fury among villagers.

Residents gathered a 300-signature petition objecting to the closure and called on the district council to have a re-think.

Many months later, the council is now planning to consult "all stakeholders, including residents, visitors, the tourism industry, ramblers, and disabled groups" before deciding what to do next.

Cabinet members will be asked to approve funding for the consultation exercise, which will be managed by the council's public conveniences task and finish group under the chairmanship of Cllr Mike Gammon.

The authority is hoping to spend £450,000 on the long-awaited repairs, but councillors will be told in a forthcoming report that "the disposal of some assets" could be needed before all the work is done.

However, the issue of toilet maintenance is nothing new. A council review group set up to investigate the management of conveniences throughout the district came up with a host of conclusions for improvements more than five years ago. To date nothing has been done.

Cabinet member Councillor Jenny David, whose portfolio includes public conveniences, said: "As a council, we have been talking about this for a long time, but there have been so many changes with directives from central Government about what we should and should not be doing, which has always taken priority over what we wanted to do.

"We have to knuckle down to this and get everybody on board and thinking the same way.

"I am determined to see this done before I retire from council at the next election."