PEOPLE are going to have to pay to use public toilets in Ludlow Town Centre.

Ludlow Town Council has decided to impose a 20p charge for people visiting the town who want to use the toilets in Castle Square.

A decision has been made to make the charge and use the money to pay for improved cleaning.

In 2011, Ludlow Town Council took ownership, maintenance and cleaning responsibilities for the public toilets from Shropshire Council.

The town council says it recognises the importance of well-maintained and clean public conveniences in the town centre and that tourism is very important to Ludlow.

Councillors have reviewed the maintenance and cleaning of Castle Street toilets and also the toilets at Smithfield and the Linney Riverside Park.

The review confirmed that the quality of cleanliness and maintenance was very good but more frequent cleaning was required.

Increasing the frequency of cleaning potentially increases the costs to the tax payer and the town council says that this can be avoided if there is a charge at point of use.

Ludlow Town Council has decided to install coin boxes at Castle Street toilets and levy a charge of 20p.

When Ludlow Town Council took over the public conveniences Shropshire Council agreed to pay for the slot machines but the scheme hit a snag because they would not accept English coins.

The town council previously decided not to impose a charge because of concerns about a potential impact upon tourism.

There were also concerns that it might make the toilets more vulnerable to vandalism and attract thieves trying to steal the money.

An additional issue had been the added cost of collecting the money each day and the associated security issues.

It is intended that the new charge will start in the spring.

Under an agreement with the town council, free public toilets in the Ludlow Assembly Rooms less 100 yards from the conveniences in Castle Street remain open to the public.