A woman is outraged that alleged lewd activities are happening regularly in the men's section of the public toilets in Mary Street, Bovey Tracey.

The resident, who wishes to remain anonymous, has contacted the police in the past and wants what she believes is lewd behaviour stopped.

She lives near the toilets and said that the alleged behaviour had been an ongoing problem for the last couple of years. It subsided for a while, but has started again.

'There are four men who come to these toilets regularly,' she said.

'I know who these men are. They are prominent members of the community, but there are also other occasional "visitors",' she said.

She is angry, because the toilets are for public use, and could be used by children.

'The toilets are there for the community.

'I know this is a very sensitive issue, but it's not fair on the community or myself.

'One policeman sat in the car park for 10 to 15 minutes the other day, and only five minutes after he left they turned up,' she added.

Teignbridge Council is aware of the problem and has now shut the toilets at night, but the resident does not believe this has solved the problem.

'I appreciate the council shutting the toilets early, but they are for the community. It is all very frustrating,' she said.

Bovey Tracey town clerk Terry Westwood said the parish council was aware of the issue.

'It was brought to our attention at our first parish police liaison meeting recently.

'Our community policeman, PC Paul Lees, informed us that these unsavoury activities had been taking place.

'Teignbridge Council has been informed and it has started to close the toilets early in the afternoon. There will also be a higher police presence in the area to combat the problem.

'We will be working with both Teignbridge Council and the police to stop it.'

Michelle Kenney, on behalf of Teignbridge Community Safety Partnership, said: 'We are aware of complaints of anti-social behaviour on the site last year, and measures were put in place to combat this activity.

'We have no records of additional complaints this year, but we will be carrying out further investigations.'

Police were first alerted to the problem in September 2002.

A spokesman for Teignbridge police said: 'We would urge anyone who is concerned about any activity to report the matter at the time, in order for an investigation to be carried out.

'We would like the resident to contact the police to enable us to discuss and work together with all agencies on the matter.'