A necessary service has been restored to a coastal village after a block of public toilets got a £23,000 revamp.

The fully refurbished facility at Kingsway in Hemsby boasts new cubicles, toilets and urinals, as well as a set of high-tech doors which automatically unlock in the morning and then self-lock in the evening.

Keith Kyriacou, chairman of Hemsby Parish Council, said: "We've worked very hard in getting the money together to get the toilets done."

%image(14385598, type="article-full", alt="Keith Kyriacou, chairman of Hemsby Parish Council, said the toilets are a "necessity".")

Funds were raised from a loan, money from Great Yarmouth Tourism and Business Improvement Area, and from the parish council precept, he said.

As part of the sprucing-up, a disused telephone box standing outside the building was repainted and a defibrillator installed.

Mr Kyriacou said the toilets had been in the same state for 25 years.

%image(14455344, type="article-full", alt="Public toilets at Kingsway in Hemsby have reopened after a £23,000 revamp.")

"We got fed up with that. I was painting the telephone box on Saturday and Sunday and the amount of people who were asking, 'When are the toilets open?', so it's a necessity."

The parish council owns and manages the convenience, paying a cleaner to attend the premises once a day.

"We got some stick for putting up the precept but we have a lot of projects going on in the village. We are spending money across the village. A lot of work is being done," Mr Kyriacou said.

As well as the toilets, he also mentioned five new benches as well as an outdoor adult gym by the children's playground in the playing field.

A low-key reopening ceremony held on Monday (April 12), as lockdown restrictions were loosened across England, was attended by the chairman himself, as well as the chairman of Great Yarmouth Tourism and Business Improvement Area Lyndon Bevan and borough councillor for Hemsby ward James Bensly.