Pensioners are demanding the reopening of underground public toilets despite their closure last year because gay men used them for illicit sex.
Council chiefs shut the lavatories in Sutherland Boulevard, Leigh, after police surveillance revealed they were being used by homosexuals to meet up and have sex, a practice nicknamed "cottaging".
Since November last year, the toilets have remained closed, despite being close to shops and a post office visited by the elderly.
Town councillor John Wren said: "A lot of the pensioners living round here go to that area on a regular basis and the toilets are very important to some of them."
Southend Council's executive councillor for public protection, Ann Holland, promised the toilets were at the top of her priorities list when funding can be secured.
Published Tuesday January 20, 2004
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