It's ten years ago this week since we reported that a run-down public toilet was set to receive a big makeover.

A new public toilet could become an attraction in itself, according to the council that is going to run it.

The run-down toilet block in Epping’s Bakers Lane car park has been closed for a month following an electrical failure.

But it will not re-open before it has been given an £80,000 makeover after Epping Forest District Council and Essex County Council agreed to pay for it.

Four regular toilets, and a disabled loo, will be built alongside a changing facility, which will give carers a private, fully equipped area to take their disabled companions.

Town clerk, Ash Tadjrishi, said that Epping Town Council will take over the maintenance of the block after the rebuild.

He said: “We have been in discussion for sometime about what to do with the block.

“The new toilets will be disability friendly, and carers and relatives will be able to stop and use them.

“Such a facility could even bring more people to the town.”

The plan will involve the superloo, which stands alongside the block, being removed and relocated to Buckhurst Hill.

And the move appears to rule out a plan to convert the block into a restaurant which the district council was pursuing at the end of 2011.

No date has yet been set for its re-opening, and the council is seeking tenders for the building work.

The Changing Places campaign, which runs projects all over the country, will work alongside the district council to insert a quality disabled changing area, alongside regular toilets.

Development Officer, Mike Le-Surf, said that the toilet blocks are much needed, as families and carers often find themselves housebound.

He said: “Some days families with disabled relatives just cannot go out.

“We’ve heard horror stories about severely disabled people having to get changed in dirty toilet floors as there is a distinct lack of facilities.

“It will be great to get a facility installed in Epping as the nearest one is more than eight miles away.”