Wellington Town Council has appointed an Exeter based construction firm to carry out works to bring the damaged Longforth Road public toilets back into use.

Ravenslade Ltd was appointed to oversee planned reconstruction of the facility by the local authority at a meeting on Monday evening after a lengthy tendering process.

It follows a car crashing into the toilet block in December, causing significant damage which has seen it out of use since.

The council plans to reduce the number of the cubicles in the toilet block from five to three, with one being accessible to the disabled. The remainder of the site is to be converted into a storage area.

In a statement the Town Council said: "Following its meeting on Monday 3 April, the Town Council is delighted to be able to announce that, following a tendering process, it has appointed Ravenslade Ltd, a construction consultancy based in Exeter, to oversee work to bring the Longforth Road toilet block back in to use. 

"They will initially be liaising with the Council’s insurers over the damage caused by the accident in December and will also be developing options looking at whether it would be better to refurbish the existing building or demolish it and build a new facility. 

"The Council has already decided it wants to reduce the number of cubicles and turn the remainder of the site in to a storage area. Once the Council has decided which option to go with, Ravenslade will oversee the appointment of a specialist contractor to undertake the work and will then project manage it. We will be meeting with them shortly to discuss timescales for the work."