A FUNDRAISER has been set up to help with the running of beach toilet facilities on the northern Cornish coast that are prone to vandalism. 

Porthcothan Toilets, based at the village of Porthcothan, between Newquay and Padstow, are looked after by the St Eval parish council and the Porthcothan Beach group after Cornwall Council removed its funding for toilets several years ago.

Users are charged 20p for the use of the toilets, but this charge doesn't cover all of the costs associated with the running and maintenance of the facilities.

Now, a fundraiser has been started in order to raise funds to help with the costs of running the facilities. 

The GoFundMe page, which was set up by Amy Honeywill, has a target of £2,000 and is currently three-quarters of the way to its goal at £1,550. 

Explaining the reasoning behind the fundraiser, Amy wrote on the website: "I live locally and have attended numerous meeting regarding the toilets and the issues that been occurring over the past few years.

"Over the past few years the toilets have continued to be vandalised in the summer months. The toilets are maintained and paid for by the Parish Council and not Cornwall Council. This means that the local community pay to keep the toilets open for everyone’s use.

"There is a small charge of 20p to use the toilets which goes towards some of the running costs but this does not cover everything that is needed. There have been many meetings over the past years discussing what can be done to try and prevent the toilets from closing and how best to prevent the criminal damage from occurring.

"Both Porthcothan Beach group and The Parish Council have discussed these issues at length. The toilets are looked after and maintained by a small number of volunteers who live locally. They work extremely hard and give up their time to keep them open and clean.

"There has been numerous incidents of damage including items being purposely put down the toilets which shouldn’t be and damage to the 20p machines as well as the doors. If the toilets close due to lack of funds then there will be no public toilets available locally. The closest will be at Treyarnon, Mawgan Porth or St Merryn.

"This will mean that the sand dunes and beach will most likely be used as a place to go to the toilet as there will be no where else. Please donate to keep the toilets open. If everyone who visited Porthcothan donated just £2 we would reach our target or more!

"All money raised will go to the upkeep and repairs to the toilets to ensure they try and remain open. If we have enough money I would like to buy a hamper for the volunteers who work tirelessly to keep them open! Please donate! This will be an ongoing fundraising event as the toilets open each year from April to October."

If you'd like to donate to the fundraiser, you can do so by visiting: www.gofundme.com/f/porthcothan-toilets