ACTION must be taken now to stop toilets next to a busy seaside family beach being used by perverts – before Felixstowe's reputation is well and truly ruined.

ACTION must be taken now to stop toilets next to a busy seaside family beach being used by perverts – before Felixstowe's reputation is well and truly ruined.

It's excellent news that councillors will at long last be dealing with the problems of Bath Tap . . . but we cannot wait until autumn.

Today The Evening Star says it is time Suffolk Coastal stood up for residents and visitors and finds a way now to put an end to the unsavoury and sordid goings-on in these loos.

The council owns the lavatories and has a duty to end the fears and worries of families using the East Beach alongside Undercliff Road East.

Police patrols have been stepped up – and officers are calling for people to report suspicious incidents.

They cannot deal with the problem unless people make formal complaints about what they have seen, or if they are aware that something is taking place.

So far this summer, no complaints have been made or incidents reported concerning the toilets next to the prom at the bottom of Bath Hill.

But a number of families have contacted the Evening Star over worries that perverts are using the lavatories for sex acts and petition forms have been flooding in.

Two mums told how their little boys became upset at seeing men involved in activities at the urinals.

Others have identified a "triangle of evil" where men sit on a low wall on Bath Hill to watch out for the police, while another stands at the new information board to keep an eye out for prospective partners going into the toilets.

Parents have called for council officials to close the loos earlier in the evening, for CCTV to be considered to monitor the building, and the employment of a part-time attendant for this summer.

One mum told the Star today that men were visiting the toilets from early in the morning and not just in the evening.

"I have sat by my beach hut and seen the same men at the same time day after day. I can understand the council not wanting to upset the homosexual community, but why can they not do these things in their own homes – why in a set of grotty old loos?" she said.

"I suggested to the council that the entrance from the street was fenced off so people could only enter from the prom, but they were not interested. I am sure there must be a solution."

n What do you think should be done? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street. Ipswich, IP4 1AN, or sign the petition form on this page, or call our Felixstowe reporting team on 01394 284109. Or have your say on the Evening Star web site www.eveningstar.co.uk