CAR park fees are set to increase to keep a busy town’s award-winning toilets open.

Ffestiniog Town Council has agreed to partner with the county council to keep public conveniences open – although there will be increased costs.

Due to budget cuts, Gwynedd Council says it can no longer afford to run public toilets so, to keep them open, the local authority has requested money from local council’s across the county.

In order to keep toilets open throughout the year, Gwynedd Council has requested £4,000 per annum.

Determined to keep the toilets open, Ffestiniog Town Council has agreed to pay the annual fee.

But they will charge parkers an extra 10p to use the council’s Diffwys car park in the heart of Blaenau Ffestiniog.

The additional money – which will be approximately £3,000 a year according to estimates – will go towards the toilet fund.

The town council is also looking at taking over the toilets entirely.

Cllr Bedwyr Gwilym explained: “We’re pleased that we’ve been able to partner with Gwynedd Council in order to keep the public conveniences open.

“As a town council we are immensely proud of our award-winning toilets, having won the prestigious Loo of the Year Award in 2014.

“Partnering with Gwynedd Council means that our toilets are still open to serve the public, whilst the partnering scheme with car parking fees has enabled Ffestiniog Town Council to reduce the cost on the local ratepayer.

“Longer term, we are investigating the possibility of taking responsibility for the toilet with a view of increasing the opening hours but this needs to be investigated thoroughly before a decision is made.”