THE first of the new toilet blocks being installed in Fenland’s four market towns was formally opened in Chatteris on Tuesday.

Councillor Peter Murphy, Fenland District Council’s portfolio holder responsible for the environment, cut the ribbon outside the toilets in Furrowfields.

He was joined there by Council Leader Councillor Alan Melton, Chatteris mayor Councillor John Chambers and staff from the council’s street cleansing and street scene teams.

The new blocks in March and Wisbech will be opened later this week in time for all the festivities marking the Diamond Jubilee weekend.

Cllr Murphy said: “These clean, modern toilets provide much better facilities both for residents and visitors while also cutting the annual costs of upkeep.

“Between them, they will save the council �60,000 each year and significantly reduce the amount of time that staff spend maintaining them.”

Cllr Melton added: “In these challenging financial times we have to make difficult but important decisions about which services to continue to support. As a council we are committed to maintaining frontline services through adopting best practice and modern working methods.

“We’re all about making Fenland fit for the future and these improvements are part of that. The investment we have made in them will preserve excellent services at a reduced cost to Council Tax payers in the future.

“Over the past year our cleansing, refuse and recycling teams have moved to longer days and shift patterns which will save us more than �200,000 each year, while also maintaining the high quality service they deliver.”