OPPOSITION to the demolition of a town centre toilet facility is growing after local companies questioned the move.

Businesses have been left puzzled by a decision by Test Valley Borough Council (TVBC) after it revealed plans to demolish the George Yard car park facility to create five extra parking spaces.

The Advertiser understands members of Andover’s potential Business Improvement District (BID) are looking to debate the issue at their next meeting at the end of the month.

This comes after Councillor Iris Andersen also spoke out about the plans.

A BID is a designated area in which businesses pay a special levy based on their rateable value.

The money collected from the levy is controlled by an Andover-based BID company, which uses it to fund events and improvements to the area in the hope of increasing footfall.

This can include core services such as additional cleaning and security or more wide-ranging projects such as recycling, improved infrastructure and promotion.

At the next Andover BID meeting businesses will be discussing with each other on whether there is an opportunity for a joint venture between TVBC and BID members to review different options and come up with an ‘innovative’ solution.

In TVBC’s Toilet Community Scheme, businesses agree to open up their toilets to members of the public without users having to make a purchase. In return the council pays each company £1,500 a year.

The authority said its decision to close the toilets and set up the scheme was a result of a persistent problem with drug users.

So far four businesses have signed up to the scheme, including Costa, Caffè Nero, The Redbridge and, announced this week, Café Bridge.

Dave Stanbridge, of Tip Top Balloons, said that he believes keeping the public toilets open is a good idea, but added that Andover BID has yet to be formally launched so it cannot yet contribute to any such plan.

Mr Stanbridge added: “But if you keep it open you need to keep them all open. Really, it’s a shame there’s no facility to bring them together so you’ve got one facility instead of two.”