On Wednesday (December 1) East Devon District Council voted unanimously to approve a set of recommendations that will ensure the King Street toilets in Honiton are kept open until 2023.

This follows a two month consultation period in which Honiton residents were invited to have their say on what to do with East Devon's public toilets.

The toilets in King Street were set to close, because East Devon District Council had said that they were unable to afford to maintain them. The council proposed to maintain and upgrade the facilities in Lace Walk instead.

However, Honiton Town Council argued that one set of toilets for a growing town of Honiton's size was not enough. They also argued that their closure would be bad for trade.

Jake Bonetta, Honiton town and district councillor, told Nub News: "I am proud that my motion and campaign to keep the King Street public toilets open has been successful, providing our town centre stability throughout the entirety of 2022 and up to Easter 2023.

"I am personally grateful to the Cabinet of EDDC, and my colleague Cllr Paul Millar for allowing this to happen.

Now it is time for the District and Town Councils to work together to secure the permanent future of these loos, and I will work very closely with both to make sure that these toilets are protected as an essential community asset."