WEB sites and internet chat rooms are being used to attract men to take part in sordid sex acts at a Felixstowe seafront toilet block, The Evening Star can reveal today.

WEB sites and internet chat rooms are being used to attract men to take part in sordid sex acts at a Felixstowe seafront toilet block, The Evening Star can reveal today.

Details of the loos at Bath Tap have been put on the web to attract people from outside the town to meet up for liaisons.

Meanwhile, parents have welcomed news that the lavatories are to be refurbished to prevent their use by perverts – but are still demanding to know what Suffolk Coastal council is planning to do until that happens.

Mums and dads are insisting that the council locks the block much earlier in the evening and employs a temporary attendant to flush out those who are not using the block at the bottom of Bath Hill for genuine reasons.

Several readers have contacted the Evening Star to say that they have discovered references to the toilets on the web.

"I have seen mention of these toilets and coy coded messages about why you might want to go there on a web site, and a friend of mine who strayed into the wrong chat room was asked about them," said one web browser.

"It seems their reputation goes far wider than Felixstowe. We might have known that because it would seem rather odd if a town of this size was able to attract so many people to use them.

"I just cannot understand why people would want to meet in these stinky old loos. It would worry me if I had children and a beach hut in that area."

Another reader claimed it was "common knowledge" that details of the toilets were on the internet.

"They have been for some time – I am sure that is why they have become this popular," he claimed.

Councillors have agreed to close the block for a £100,000 refurbishment this autumn which once it is complete will mean all cubicles and urinals have to be accessed via individual doors on the outside of the building.

But the council says it has no plans to close the toilets earlier in the evening or to put CCTV up at the site at the moment.

One parent told the Star: "My children went to a beach party at Brackenbury Fort this week and the organisers contacted the council beforehand to ensure the toilets at the car park there would be open during the evening.

"They were told they were closed at twilight and so there should be no problem. But when they arrived at 6.30pm the loos were closed – and they had to take children who needed the loo half a mile to The Dip.

"That's typical Suffolk Coastal council, if you ask me. On the one hand it cannot close the Bath Tap toilets until dusk, but it closes the ones it says will be open to be used during a children's party! Does it know which toilets people are actually talking about at all?"

Council officials say there is no set time for closing the Bath Tap toilets and a balance has to be struck between providing a facility for genuine users and preventing offensive behaviour.

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