ENGLISH Heritage has rejected a campaign to have a historic building listed in a bid to reopen an axed toilet block.

The We Want a Wee campaign had applied to English Heritage to protect the Victorian building, in Mill Lane, Walton, arguing the former fire station is of architectural and historic significance.

But they were knocked back and told the 19th century building did not merit listed status.

Steven Walker, who launched the campaign, said: “English Heritage have rejected the application to list the building, they deemed it wasn’t architecturally or historically significant enough.

“They recommended we seek to have the building listed as a community asset, meaning any future plans to demolish would have to be suspended for six months while we put in a proposal for how to use it.”

But Mr Walker said the campaign is not completely lost.

He said an approach has been made to renovate the building and put it back into use.

“It is an area the council has designated which contains buildings of interest,” he said.

“According to the council’s own rules, they have to pay attention to and protect any noteworthy buildings within the conservation area.

“The online petition now has nearly 300 signatures, which shows there is interest in the community.

“We are also distributing paper copies of the petition hoping and aiming for at least 500 signatures.

“This is a plea to the council to put a preservation order on the building to stop it being demolished.

“Someone has contacted me to say they are interested in putting in a bid for using the building, interested in converting it, repairing where it has deteriorated and bringing it back into use.

“If the council still owned it under a lease arrangement, bringing it back into community use could bring in revenue for them.”

He added: “The aim is to bring it back into use.

“It is a fascinating piece of history, there would be people in the town whose descendants and relatives worked there.

“This is an old, Victorian fire station, with a beautiful facade and it is certainly a part of our history.”

Tendring Council closed the Mill Lane toilets due to their condition and the associated costs of maintenance.

The decision was made as part of the public conveniences strategy which detailed plans to close ten public loos but reinvest the savings into improving some of the remaining 30.

A Tendring Council spokesman said discussions were ongoing as to the future of the site.

He added: “Our established public conveniences strategy, adopted in mid-2017, set out our approach to toilets around the district, including closing ten and re-investing the savings into improving a number of the remaining 30 public toilets.

“As part of this, a decision was made to close the toilets due to age, condition and high maintenance costs and the proximity of other public conveniences, and in line with the strategy.”