VANDALS have forced the partial closure of the toilets at Burnley's award-winning bus station - and portable loos are set to replace them.

Council bosses have pledged to install portable toilets outside the £3million flagship facility after vandals repeatedly set fire to the indoor loos.

But the decision has been called tacky' by a councillor who says more effort should be made to stop the vandalism.

The futuristic, glass-fronted structure was voted the best in the country a year after it opened in 2002.

But council chiefs say there have been numerous incidents of vandalism, including fire-raising even though classical music has been piped through the public address system since the bus station opened in a bid to deter anti-social behaviour.

Now the top brass at the authority say the cost of repairing the damage and the threat to safety has left them with no choice but to shut the toilets after 6pm.

Farida Ahmed, Burnley council's property consultancy manager, said: "Because of repeated incidents of vandalism involving the bus station toilets, including attempts to set them on fire, we have been forced to close the facilities in the evenings after 6pm.

"Naturally we appreciate the inconvenience this may cause some users of the station after this time. But unfortunately the escalating cost of dealing with these incidents has left us with no alternative as there is clearly a risk to public safety when incidents like this occur.

"However we are currently looking at other possible options for passengers using the station during the evenings, including the provision of portable toilet facilities."

Hapton with Park councillor Sharon Wilkinson criticised the decision.

She said: "Millions of pounds have been spent on this and there has to be a better solution than putting up tacky portable loos, they just aren't going to look very good. This bus station is one of the first things people see when they come to the town and it doesn't give a good impression if the toilets are locked and they are having to use portable ones.

"This is giving in to the yobs, surely there must be a way to police the existing toilets more effectively to stop the vandalism happening in the first place."

Former Mayor, coun Roger Frost, who sat on the council committee which oversaw the development, said: "Clearly we would not want a facility like the bus station to be without toilets when people are using it for so many hours each day. There has to be some sort of facility for people to use."

Bosses in charge of the project were left red-faced when it opened after a series of spelling errors appeared on the timetables, including Worsthore instead of Worsthorne, Hampton for Hapton, and Pandleside instead of Pendleside.

The bus station, the result of partnership between Lancashire County Council and Burnley Borough Council, has proved popular with passengers and bus operators since opening in August 2002.