IT IS the village at the centre of what is known as Ayrshire's Rambling Territory which had its public toilets saved by the community after the local council planned to close them.

The leafy village of Straiton set in rolling hills and farmland was up in arms when South Ayrshire Council decided they should be bulldozed as part of budget cuts.

The community were concerned about where the thousands of ramblers who come into the village every year to tackle Monument and Bennan Hill would spend a penny if the loos were no longer there.

The Straiton Village Cooperative stepped in to buy the toilets for just one pound and they have since been completely refurbished using donations and grants.

The Herald:

Now the Straiton Public Toilets are celebrating ten years since being rescued - and yet are still being supported by the very council that wanted them closed.

The cooperative, made up of members of the community, say they get a third of the £3,000 running costs from South Ayrshire Council.

READ MORE: Video: Public plea to spend lots of pennies to save Cumbrae's toilets

And they have no doubt that it was right to take the toilets off the council's hands.

Bruce Henderson of the cooperative said: "Every weekend the car park is full with cars for hillwalkers so we had to do something.

Straiton lives up to the moniker of being Rambler Territory on local signposts. We could not make this claim without a comfort stop.

"We worked together and we said no way you are not knocking down our toilets and we went ahead and bought them.

"People think saving them is a good idea, but sometimes by the time they have thought about it, they have been pulled down.

"And the two other public tolilets at Crosshill and Kirkmichael nearby were knocked down. People now come here from those village to use them.

"The message is clear. If you live in a village, threatened with closure of the public toilets, approach your local council, but do it now."