THE on-going saga of the transfer of the county’s public toilets to the control of a town and community council rumbles on.

Tempers flared once again at Cwmaman town council where members have been discussing the issue for more than a year.

As part of a major cost-cutting exercise, Carmarthenshire county council threatened to close all public conveniences unless town councils’ agreed to shoulder the burden of running the facilities.

However, despite agreeing “in principal” to adopt Glanaman loos as far back as January, Cwmaman council is still awaiting formal documentation to complete the hand-over with the county’s offer repeatedly changing a bid to bring more of the smaller bodies on board.

In the latest twist, the county council has confirmed it would continue employing its own cleaning staff with community council’s expected to cover the costs.

The move infuriated councillor Emyr Jenkins.

“So we are expected to take on the toilets on a lease not as a freehold and now we will be responsible for an employee and have to cover his insurance and pension for something we do not own.

“We are expected to take this on at massive financial cost and responsibility, but we will not own it.

“We are expected to pay to maintain someone else’s asset. They are making us spend money on something they own. In five years time the council can simply take it back or they could say ‘our worker has broken his leg and you have to cover his sick pay’, it is absolutely ridiculous.

We keep being given half promises and then every time it comes back something has changed.

“The entire thing is a nonsense and we are being taken for a bunch of mugs.”

Cllr Kevin Madge laid out the county’s position in no uncertain terms.

“The bottom line is that the toilets will close. The county no longer has the budget to maintain public toilets and keep them open. This is the final offer. There will not be a better one and some toilets will close.”