Public toilets with Ayscoughfee Hall gardens re-open after South Holland District Council clear the drains – and found a shoe!

A set of public toilets which has been closed for weeks due to a vandalism attack have finally re-opened.

The public toilets in Ayscoughfee Gardens were re-opened on Thursday last week after being closed in August after vandals struck.

South Holland District Council had spent weeks repairing the damage to the toilets – after yobs had stuck a cone and toilet paper down the loo.

However, the council – which is installing CCTV cameras at the museum and gardens – also found a number of other surprising items after clearing the drains across the site.

A spokesman said: “The drains were cleared out across the whole of the gardens to the main road, due to wet wipes and toilet rolls, shoes, pens, female hygiene items not binned but flushed.

“We replaced partitions and locks, two doors and added other enhancements to help make the partitions more difficult to break. Anti-vandal toilet roll holders have also been fitted.

“This all takes time and the only people that suffer are the visitors to the gardens, however, we did have the toilets open in the café and the disabled and changing places were open bar two days”.

This is not the first time that toilets at Ayscoughfee have been attacked by vandals. The gents’ toilets were closed between May and June this year after vandals caused extensive damage to a cubicle.

The toilets were revamped earlier this year after the district council used a £150,000 government grant to create three accessible Changing Places toilets in Ayscoughfee, the Sheep Market and another site in the district.

This new facility, which is part of a wider improvement of the café and toilet block, is large enough to accommodate a couple of wheelchairs and a family.

Ayscoughfee also has a revamped set of tennis courts thanks to a grant. But engineers were due to return to the site yesterday to repair a damaged gate.

Elsewhere, another set of toilets has been closed in Bourne.

Bourne United Charities is reviewing how it manages the facilities at Abbey Lawn because of ongoing problems.

The toilets have closed several times during the past year, mostly for repairs.

They were closed last winter due to burst pipes and again for tree roots to be removed, but the recent closure is a result of antisocial behaviour.

Trust manager Nick Legge said: “Sadly this is not the first time they have been vandalised by any means and we are reviewing the way the toilets are managed and accessed to prevent recurrences of this nature.

“We already have private security in place to minimise vandalism and antisocial behaviour and the lawns are locked at set times to control access.

“In the meantime sports users have access to their own toilet facilities, with the exception of the skate park which is on the opposite side of the lawns.”

Bourne Town Council has just exchanged contracts with South Kesteven District Council to take charge of the other public toilets in South Street.

They will be upgraded with government money and town council funds to become a Changing Places facility with extra accessibility features.