TEN public toilets closed in Weymouth as part of major cost-cutting exercise could reopen but at the expense of other services council chiefs have warned.

Members of Weymouth and Portland Borough Council's environment and conservation committee will be asked on Monday to consider opening all the public conveniences closed on April 1 as part of the measures. The move would cost the council a total of £16,761 for the rest of the year and £44,438 for any subsequent year.

However a report to the committee by David Bowyer the council's waste and recycling services manager warns that if the toilets are reopened the committee should state where it is planning to find the extra money from.

He said: "If members should recommend the reopening of any of the public conveniences to the management committee, they should also inform the management committee which budget or budgets should be reduced in order to balance the increase in expenditure for the remainder of the year and future years."

Two petitions have been submitted to the council since the toilets at Abbotsbury Road, Littlemoor, Nothe Parade, Old Castle Road, Pleasure Pier, Princess Diana Gardens, Southill, Southwell, Upwey and Victoria Gardens closed, calling for them to reopen. The toilets at Upwey, Nothe Walk and Princess Diana Gardens are not usually open in the winter.

Mr Bowyer said the decision to close the toilets was for financial reasons and enabled the council to concentrate its limited resources on the toilets that are used the most. Councillors have also claimed that people have been defecating near the sites as a result of the closures.

The report confirms the problem had occurred and six complaints had been investigated since the closures.