The Harold Place toilets built in the 1980s and closed last year have all but been erased from the townscape of Hastings.

Bulldozers moved in last week to raze the the former toilet block to the ground bringing to an end an issue which has been politically controversial in the corridors of Hastings Borough Council.

The Labour-led administration earmarked the toilets for closure in a bid to save money in the face of further reductions in the grants received from central government. But members of the Conservative group on the council believed the toilets were an important amenity to the town and should have been retained.

The toilets cost around £70,000 per year to run and Conservative group leader Rob Lee had proposed that installing turnstiles would have raised an estimated £14,600 each year to help offset the costs of keeping the toilets open.

However in March the final decision was taken to demolish the toilets and cover over the basement, the cost of that work is estimated at £105,000.

While the toilets might be gone the argument isn’t over yet. In a recent interview with Hastings In Focus Mr Lee said that if the Conservatives win control of the borough at the forthcoming elections he will make sure that new toilets are created in the town, “I think that is good use of public money,” he said. Mr Lee believes that if the town is to be a successful tourist destination it needs to provide decent facilities for the people visiting.