NEGOTIATIONS are underway on a fresh bid to re-open the Riverside Park toilets in Huntingdon which were closed because of budget cuts.

Huntingdon Town Councillor Colin Hyams told members at a meeting last week he was in talks with Huntingdonshire District Council on a plan to re-open the toilets for �14,000 a year. Previously the council had been asked to pay �17,000 a year for maintenance of the facilities.

Members had previously rejected the offer, as the toilets were sited on HDC-owned land and next to a car park which generates income for the district council.

But since their closure in March 2010, there has been uproar from residents and business owners.

Lesley Sadler, 55, landlady of the Sun, in Hartford, said the move had led to a steep rise in her water bills as visitors to the park now regularly use the pub’s toilets instead.

Cllr Hyams told a finance committee meeting re-opening the loos was a ‘matter of urgency.’ While a Godmanchester Town Councillor, he had managed to negotiate a �14,000 deal to re-open the Godmanchester toilets.

He said: “Godmahcester was done as a one-off with �14,000, but if it is good enough for Godmanchester, it is good enough for Huntingdon.”