PUBLIC toilets in Wadebridge have been saved from closure after the town council agreed to purchase and maintain them.
Cornwall Council was due to shut the conveniences on The Platt and Egloshayle Road but now they will be sold to Wadebridge Town Council for £1 each.
Under the deal, they will be refurbished by local authority contractors before they are handed over to the town council.
However, negotiations over the sale of the Camel Trail toilet block at Eddystone Road have broken down, with the town council refusing to take them on due to the expensive repair work required.
The £300,000 facility has been plagued with problems since it opened.
Freezing pipes have forced its closure on occasions during the winter, and in the summer foul smells, dubbed locally "the Camel Trail pong'', bring complaints.
Wadebridge town clerk Kate Glidden-Rogers said: "The town council has been in negotiation with Cornwall Council for two years to prevent these well-used toilets from being closed.
"The residents of Wadebridge and the surrounding area rely on these toilets when visiting the town and it would have been a tragedy for them to close," she said.
"The town council will now seek to find the most cost-effective way of maintaining both sets of toilets.
"The town council has decided that there are too many problems with the Camel Trail toilets at the moment and therefore would not wish to take on the leasehold or maintenance of them at the residents' expense. It is hoped that Cornwall Council will continue to keep these toilets open for the users of the trail."
Mayor Tony Rush said money would have to be found to maintain the newly acquired toilets, but the town council would not be increasing its council tax precept this year to burden residents with the bill.
"We have decided to keep the precept at the same level as last year, but there will be a cost, not least the cleaning bill.
"But we decided we had to keep the toilets open. It was inconceivable to us that the conveniences would be closed, and we had a duty to residents and visitors to keep them open," he said.
