Campaigners seeking to take over West Somerset’s public toilets have been given extra time to sign an agreement with the district council.

The authority’s scrutiny committee was told on Thursday that last-minute negotiations had extended the December 16 deadline by at least a month . It was also agreed that the toilets would be available as either leasehold or freehold properties.

Local councils and charitable groups would also be guaranteed £1,000 for each toilet block for legal costs and would be eligible to apply for a grant from the district council’s sustainability fund, which now totals at least £68,000.

This fund, originally standing at £40,000, was recently increased by the sale of disused toilets at Dunster.

The special meeting had been called because of criticism of the way West Somerset Council was handling the disposal of toilets due to be closed next March.

Speakers in the public gallery complained about the short notice for the December 16 deadline and the disparity between some councils being offered the leasehold of the toilets and others the freehold.

The scrutiny committee unanimously supported a recommendation by chairman Peter Murphy that the council “urgently review the support offered to parish councils and consider the achievability of agreed budget savings”.

A full report of the meeting will be in the next Free Press.