TWO vital toilet blocks which serve thousands of Cheddar Gorge tourists every year are one step closer to staying open. The toilets, in Tweentown and The Cliffs, were being threatened with closure as part of a massive cost-cutting programme at Sedgemoor D

TWO vital toilet blocks which serve thousands of Cheddar Gorge tourists every year are one step closer to staying open.The toilets, in Tweentown and The Cliffs, were being threatened with closure as part of a massive cost-cutting programme at Sedgemoor District Council, which runs the facilities.But after a special meeting at the authority's headquarters, a committee has recommended that all four toilet blocks in the historic village should stay open.The toilet committee, made up of councillors and council officers, has been visiting all the toilets in the district and trying to decide which are suitable for closure.A final decision on the fate of the loos will be made by Sedgemoor's executive, who will take the toilet committee's recommendations on board. The decision will be made on June 14.The toilet committee also wants Sedgemoor to negotiate with Cheddar Parish Council over the operation of the facilities, with a view to the parish council taking over.The parish council had originally responded angrily to the suggestion the toilets could close, saying they were vital to the village's burgeoning tourist industry.Parish councillor Gill Davies said: "These are very well used toilets and it would be absurd to shut them down."In a tourist area they are absolutely vital. When people drive for miles to get here the first thing many of them will think is 'where's the nearest toilet?'"If the district council is proposing to pass them onto the parish then I'm not sure how we would deal with it because we have had no experience in managing a toilet before."The toilet committee has also recommended that a facility in The Borough, Wedmore, should stay open until March next year, with a view to the parish council taking over its operation.