BILLERICAY Town Council is flushing more than £19,000 of taxpayers' money down the pan each year by paying for a "Dr Who" public toilet used just nine times a day on average.
That is the view of Billericay resident and former town councillor Terence Gandy, who this week called on the authority to dispense with the revolving door public toilet in the car park behind Iceland off the High Street.
Mr Gandy, of Norsey View Drive, wants the council to terminate its contract with Healthmatic, the firm which provides the futuristic water closet.
However, the authority has told him in a letter that it will be hit with a financial penalty of £125,000 if it pulls out of its 15-year contract early.
Using the Freedom of Information Act, Mr Gandy has learned that the cost of running the toilet in the 2012/13 financial year was £19,646.
Further data allowed him to calculate that, on average, the toilet is used just nine times a day.
Mr Gandy said: "Nineteen-thousand pounds a year is an unacceptable expenditure for a facility ignored by residents. As there are nine years of the contract remaining, it is envisaged that the public convenience will cost the taxpayer approximately £180,000.
"However, the town council has agreed that if the contract was terminated then rate payers would be saved £55,000."
John Buchanan, chairman of Billericay Town Council, told the Gazette: "The termination rate (£125,000) would mean to continue paying for the public toilet even though it was not there.
"The council intends to continue to provide this service to the people of Billericay.
"Whatever the merits of having a public convenience, it must be better to have one, than to be paying for one and not having it."
In March this year, Basildon Borough Council pledged to invest £100,000 to refurbish the public toilets and swimming pool in Wickford.
The authority also recently renovated the toilets at Lake Meadows in Billericay at a cost of £50,000.
Mr Gandy said: "I applaud the refurbishment of the Lake Meadows toilet but this has led to questions from residents as to why the quality of the toilet in Lake Meadows is so superior to the toilet provided in town.
"Given the vast sums being spent in Basildon on expensive building projects, while the residents in Billericay have to make do with a Dr Who toilet in the town, criticism is justified."
A spokesman for Basildon Borough Council said: "The public toilets in the High Street car park were requested by Billericay Town Council and are maintained and paid for by the town council. There are still public conveniences in Lake Meadows, which are maintained by Basildon Borough Council."
