Shocking images have been released of Machynlleth’s public toilets vandalised after they were closed permanently a year ago.

According to Machynlleth town councillors, the public toilets were vandalised multiple times after they decided to close them due to ongoing vandalism.

Photos shared by the council reveal a toilet smashed to pieces on the floor of a stall on a filth-covered floor, taken in July 2022, six months before the closure.

Other images taken this March, a year into the closure, are of toilets full to the brim of human waste, with faeces on the floor next to the toilets and on the floor of the urinals.

Further pictures show door locks broken.

The council stated they closed the facilities which they ran as they could no longer afford the cost of the continued repairs.

Town councillor Norma McCarten, member of a new resident-business-council working group which submitted a bid for funding to repair and reopen the toilets, said: “We expect to have CCTV installed in any [refurbishment] project.

“We are trying to speak to police about this but they are overstretched- indeed, we have no full-time police presence.

“The town has restarted the youth club, there is a thriving football and rugby club, cubs, award-winning scouts, great local bands and venues.

“Perhaps your readers could share some thoughts on the vandalism- why [is this happening]?”

The toilets next to the main town car park were recently boarded up, replacing the barred and locked doors and windows to alleviate the ongoing issue.

In May the working group applied for £60k from a Powys fund to improve the toilets, replace the facilities with steel ‘vandal-proof’ furniture.

They also plan to make the building more environmentally friendly, recycling rainwater, installing solar panels and motion sensor lights to reduce running costs for the cash-strapped council.

In the 2022-23 financial year, the council spent £1,354.68 on ‘vandalism repairs’ and a combined £7,986.75 on electricity and water for the building.

The group is still awaiting decisions on the funding.

Councillor McCarten said the council, which does not own the building- belonging instead to Powys County Council - were blocked for a long time from being able to apply for the funding because they had not received an agreement in principle for the council to take ownership of the building.

This meant they were unable to apply for funding which they “invariably needs ownership” to do.