A £60,000 refurbishment has been completed of a public toilet block at the centre of a row over lack of facilities for tourists in Minehead.

The town council closed the Quay West toilets near Minehead Harbour in early May just as the tourism season was about to start in earnest.

It prompted protests that alternative facilities should have been arranged to avoid a major seaside town being left with no toilets in a main tourist area while the summer season was getting underway.

Now, contractor Ware Construction has completed the job and the toilets were officially reopened this week.

The refurbishment involved extensive repair work and a complete redesign of the internal layout of the building.

Roofing felt was entirely replaced and leaking skylights removed.

The refurbishment incorporated a renewal of all wall, floor, and ceiling coverings in the public toilets as well as enlargement of the cubicles, new vanity units, taps, baby changing units, and washroom accessories.

There was also a change in colour scheme with updated LED sensor lighting incorporated to lift the light levels within the cubicles.

Accessible toilets have been included in both male and female facilities to comply with The Equalities Act.

Updated features include sensor taps, toilet flushes designed to limit user contact, and sensor-timed flow to delivers a limited amount of water and reduce waste.

A council spokesman said Ware Construction had delivered the project within the expected 10 to 12 weeks timescale.

He said: “Minehead Town Council hopes residents and visitors will benefit from these new facilities in this much-loved part of the town.”