BARNSTAPLE Pannier Market traders have claimed the closure of well-used town centre toilets is causing confusion and disruption.

The stallholders have called on North Devon Council to reopen the Market Street facilities.

The Pannier Market Traders' Committee has written a letter outlining its concerns to North Devon Council leader Des Brailey (Cons).

Any coach party members who are dropped off in Boutport Street, for example, now have to walk across town to new toilets in the Cattle Market car park.

Market traders are frequently asked for directions to the nearest public toilets and once the directions are given, the visitors do not return to spend money on market stalls, the stallholders claim.

A market trader who wished to remain anonymous said: "Once you send them off they never come back, so we lose trade. People are very disgruntled because it is so far to walk, especially for the disabled.

"Surely, there must be money to revamp the Market Street toilets and open them up again."

A petition, calling for such a move, has already gathered significant support, with 40 pages of signatures.

The letter to the council concludes that with the approaching holiday season when it is desirable to keep visitors in the pannier market and on the High Street, it would appear to be "a particularly inadvisable time" to close the Market Street facilities.

And, even if the closure decision cannot be reversed permanently, the stallholders are hoping for a reprieve for the summer months.

The closure of the old toilets has not just affected trade at the pannier market. Terry Goodman, who runs Colors, the curtain and fabric shop in Market Street, said the number of people going past had "really dropped off."

He said: "When the buses and coaches stopped outside Marshalls pub and the Queen's Theatre, people would make a beeline for the nearest toilets (in Market Street). That doesn't happen now.

"The toilets have been closed and we are the ones who are suffering. The council gave no thought to us."

He pointed out that a lot of the shops have had people asking if they could use their toilets. And, he had also seen two men urinating in the street.

Steve Pitcher, the council's executive director, said: "It was always our intention to close the Market Street toilets once we had opened the new ones at the Cattle Market.

"The (old) toilets were clearly no longer fit for purpose and their refurbishment would have been extremely costly."

However, he said the council was still exploring other options such as the possibility of providing a small toilet unit near the market for the public.

He added: "The town centre is not badly served now. There are toilets at the bus station, Cattle Market and Green Lanes Shopping Centre."