A newly refurbished toilet block in the Swansea Valley was the target of an arson attack, according to Swansea council. Part of the toilet block has now been shut for maintenance despite only being renovated recently as part of "significant investment" in local facilities by the council.
A local business owner first noticed smoke billowing out of the toilet block in High Street, Clydach on Monday, May 8 at around 2:40pm and called emergency services to the scene. Serge Ismail, 39, owns a barbershop opposite the public building and said he grabbed a fire extinguisher from his business to try and help while he waited for the fire service. But thick black smoke made it too difficult to see where the fire had started inside the facilities.
Pictures show the black, burnt walls and ceiling of the men's toilets which has now been closed following the bank holiday incident. Swansea council’s maintenance team are now in the process of carrying out work to repair the damage caused by the fire and aim to reopen them as soon as possible, said a spokesperson for the council. You can get more Swansea news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
Cyril Anderson of Swansea council said: “I’m really disappointed that this has happened. We’ve invested a lot of money into toilet facilities in Swansea so the public can have these services available to them. We have a team on site, assessing the damage and establishing what needs to be repaired. This may take a few days which sadly means the toilets won’t be available. Fortunately, the ladies and disabled toilets are unaffected by the vandalism and remain open. If anyone has information relating to this mindless act of vandalism, I would urge them to contact either the council or the police so we can take action.”
A spokesperson for South Wales Police said they "were called just before 3pm on Monday 8 May by Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service with a report of smoking coming out of the public toilets on High Street, Clydach. Officers attended and conducted CCTV enquiries. Anyone with information that could assist the investigation is asked to contact us quoting 2300148456."
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