A disused toilet block in Blandford could be turned into a hairdresser while the town has only one working public convenience.

North Dorset District Council owns the block in the car park of the Somerfield supermarket on Langton Road.

But a member of the public has written to the council arguing that the town already has nine hairdressers and a barber.

Traders in Blandford have fought a long battle for more public conveniences in the town, whose only public convenience is in the Marsh and Ham car park at the other end of the town.

Trina Horrocks, the chairman of the town’s chamber of trade, said: “The obvious answer is that Blandford would benefit at that end of the town from more toilets. There are other units in the town that a hairdresser could go into.

“But if there’s no chance of it remaining as a toilet, it needs to be used in the most effective way,” said Mrs Horrocks.

A meeting of the town council’s planning committee recommended that the application be approved by district councillors.

Committee chairman Cllr Harold Galpin said the committee had only been asked to comment on planning considerations, and had already taken on two of the district council’s disused toilet blocks, “The town council has refurbished the toilets at the Marsh and Ham, and we are in the process of having the Tabernacle toilets from the district council.

“We were offered the toilets at the Langton car park but the money went above our station. It was on the books at £15,000 then we heard it went up to about £50,000,” said Cllr Galpin.

Planning officer, Andrew Williams, has recommended that councillors give the application the green light at a meeting today.