Callington Town Council has pledged to reopen the disabled toilets in the town centre as soon as possible following a serious incident of vandalism and criminal damage.

The newly refurbished toilets, situated on New Road, have remained out of order since suffering these attacks. They were first identified as having been damaged by Callington Town Council who immediately reported the incident to the police.

Callington Police have reported viewing clear CCTV of the incident, which occurred in early February.

It shows a young girl gaining entry to the facilities, followed in by a group of ten to twelve young people, estimated to be aged between 14 and 16.

They were observed leaving several hours later and then returned a week later to obtain entry in the same fashion. When inside, the group proceeded to vandalise the toilet by throwing toilet paper around, smashing glass and destroying electrical units within the specialist hoist which sits within a charging unit — causing up to £1,000 worth of damage.

Access to the facility is obtained by dialling a number posted on a sign linked with external monitoring company Healthmatic, who then provide the user with an entry code.

A similar less serious, incident was reported last year; the current means of entry are unfortunately susceptible to allowing erroneous entry as there is no robust verification process in place to authenticate entry requests.  Whilst the toilets have been subsequently cleared of all damage, they can not be reopened until the town council receive the replacement electrical components for the hoist inside. They hope to obtain these as quickly as possible to ensure the facility is once again available for public use.

Town council clerk Jo Taylor said: ‘This wanton act of vandalism is extremely disappointing, frustrating and totally unnecessary.

‘The changing places facility closure will sadly have a direct impact on some of the most vulnerable members of our community.’

Cllr Mike Moore of Callington Town Council said: ‘Costs for repair work were approved at the last town council meeting which, including VAT, will be anywhere up to £1,000.

‘This incident has highlighted that we need alternative security in place and we are currently exploring new arrangements and are in discussion with Healthmatic about this. A decision on what to do has not yet been made but we need to avoid a repeat of the incident as it costs residents in payment of council tax.’

Callington Police said: ‘We were saddened to hear of the damage caused to the disabled toilet and changing facilities on New Road — particularly as this has now left this facility unusable for those who really need it.

‘Officers are working hard, alongside a number of different organisations, to identify those responsible and hold them to account, as well as to prevent any reoccurrence of such issues in the future.

‘Although enquiries are ongoing into this incident, we would welcome any information from members of the public that would assist us moving forwards – please contact us via telephone on 101 or via the contact us section of our website, quoting CR/014803/22.’