A ROW has broken out between Labour and Tory councillors over who was responsible for Accrington’s ‘superloo’ – which cost taxpayers £18 every time someone spent a penny.

The Lancashire Telegraph reported last week how the self-cleaning unisex cubicle was removed from the town centre after the Labour-led Hyndburn Borough Council paid £100,000 to break the rental contract with providers Universal SuperLoo, JC Decaux.

Convervative group leader of Hyndburn Borough Council, Peter Britcliffe blamed Labour for the expensive fiasco in comments last week.

In response, Coun Clare Pritchard wrote an open letter to the press and said she ‘felt compelled to correct the, what can only be described as misrepresentations, of Coun Britcliffe’.

In 2002, the Tories extended the contract with the decision taken at a council meeting chaired by Coun Britcliffe, Coun Pritchard wrote.

She added: “The cost of these loos was astronomical and it is very disingenuous of Coun Britcliffe to say that he was in any way involved in the removal of yet another one of his mistakes, made with seemingly no thought of the huge financial burdens he was placing on the taxpayers of the borough.”

Coun Britcliffe said his council had no option but to extend the licence.

He said: “It was their bad management. Labour created a £2million black hole.”