THE North York Moors National Park Authority is to be asked to help fund the running of public toilets in moorland villages following pro-tests over plans to close them.

Eight toilets, at Westerdale, Ruswarp, Aislaby, Commondale, Egton, Fylingthorpe, Robin Hood's Bay and Runs-wick Bay, were targeted for closure as part of a plan by Scarborough Borough Council to upgrade others in the district.

Toilets in Scarborough at Castle Dykes, Burniston Barracks, Dean Road and The Mere are also set to be shut, together with another in Hope Street, Filey.

However, after a change of heart, the toilet at Bank Top, Runswick Bay, will remain open.

Councillor Harry Rowe said "The toilets in the national park were needed when they were built many years ago by Whitby Rural Council. The need is a thousand times greater today with an increasing number of tourists."

He warned that if the toilets were closed people would instead use hedgerows, causing a public health hazard.

The council' s cabinet heard that ten million people now visit the national park and the toilets were a necessary asset.

Petitions signed by 9,000 people have been sent to the borough authority, plus letters from parish councils and scores of residents.

Steve Oldridge, the borough council's director of environmental health, said the area had the third highest number - 67 - of public toilets of any local authority in the country.

"The annual net running costs of the service are £946,710 - equivalent to £8.75 per head of population," he said.

The council agreed to ask the national park authority to contribute towards the running of the toilets in a partnership arrangement, which could also involve parish councils.