CIVIC chiefs have backed plans to shut four public toilets in Poole town centre, in a bid to claw back almost £100,000 per year.

Borough of Poole's (BOP) cabinet agreed proposals to close the toilets at Chapel Lane, Quay Visitors, Quay Watch Station and Poole Bus Station.

The council will introduce a community toilet scheme for Poole town centre, which, they say, will work by allowing members of the public to access facilities in scheme members' premises.

Local businesses and retailers signing up to this initiative will allow access to their facilities whether you are a paying customer or not.

BOP environmental and consumer protection head Shaun Robson said: "Similar schemes have been running very successfully in four other areas of the borough for some time now and provides a way we can still offer the public modern, clean and safe facilities that are accessible to all.

"Providing access to facilities which are staffed premises could also reduce incidents of anti-social behaviour and consequently improve the feeling of safety and wellbeing in the local community."

However, Cllr Mark Howell, of Poole People, spoke against the move. He said he couldn't support the proposals because he felt "not enough consideration has been given to the future needs of the public."

The councillor also said he was worried about signage and the needs of disabled people visiting Poole.

"We therefore feel that officers are rushing to implement this scheme before appropriate mitigation measures have been developed," said Cllr Howell.

Invitations to join the community toilet programme have been issued to 22 town centre premises. Four of these have shown interest to date, it has been confirmed.

These include Poole Museum, The Lighthouse Theatre, Sainsbury's and The Spire Cafe.

There are also two existing toilets open to shoppers in the Dolphin Shopping Centre and Dolphin Quays.

Meanwhile, community toilet schemes have been operating at Broadstone and Canford Heath, since 2013, and at Hamworthy and Parkstone since March 2014.

Mr Robson said: "While we understand the importance of our residents and visitors having access to public toilet facilities, the council must also make efficiency savings while meeting growing demand for a number of essential services."

Officials say plans to close the four town centre toilets would save an estimated £98,000 a year.

Figures show the bus station toilets are used 177 times a day on average, while Chapel Lane is used 29 times and Quay Visitors 21 times.

Numbers for the Quay Watch Station WCs are not considered reliable.

These figures do not include disabled users who get free access through the Radar key scheme.