PUBLIC toilets in moorland villages are to be saved following an offer of cash help by the North York Moors National Park Authority.

Toilets at Egton, Aislaby, Ruswarp, Commondale and Westerdale, in the Esk Valley, near Whitby, were scheduled for closure at the end of March unless a deal could be struck with the parish councils in the area to keep them open.

Residents pleaded that the toilets were vital to the local tourist trade with a growing number of walkers, cyclists and motorists visiting the moors.

Scarborough Borough Council planned to close them as part of a cost-cutting exercise but now the National Park authority has stepped in with a financial lifeline.

Richard Grunton a senior officer at the authority, said it planned to work in partnership with the parish councils, and would give them a substantial sum to help meet costs, as well as offering practical advice.