Teignmouth residents and visitors will have the use of new toilet facilities on The Den by Christmas after the new public conveniences were delivered this week.

The long-awaited new toilet block was craned into position on the site of the former aquarium on Tuesday (November 18) and work is now underway to fit out the facilities before they open next month.

Visitors to The Den have had to use temporary toilets for the past three years after the previous block was incorporated into the former Beachcomber restaurant - now Venus.

Teignmouth Town Council said the modules for toilet blocks elsewhere in the town ‘will be delivered before Christmas and will be up and running in early January’.

These sites will be located in the Eastcliff, Lower Point and Quay Road car parks. Teignmouth Town Council will also be refurbishing the toilets on Lower Brook Street.

All the new toilets will operate on a pay-to-pee basis, understood to be 40 pence, to cover ongoing maintenance costs.

The pre-built toilet blocks include environmentally friendly and efficient features such as solar panels and systems to collect rainwater for flushing.

On Lower Brook Street, the refurbishment includes a ‘changing places’ facility designed for people with multiple or complex disabilities.

The toilets project in Teignmouth has been plagued by delays including issues with planning and wrangling over leases. Last month, the town council reported that the company responsible for installing the new public conveniences had been ‘fined’ for failing to deliver the project on time.

Unlike many other towns and villages within Teignbridge, the toilets in Teignmouth are run by the Town Council rather than the District Council.

However, around two thirds of the district’s public conveniences are at risk of closure or being sold off after April 2027 unless they are taken on by town and parish councils as Teignbridge looks to cut costs.

Teignmouth Town Council took over the running of the public toilets in Teignmouth from Teignbridge District Council in 2014.