Public loo protesters head for the seat of power

They went further.

They took their protest into the seat of power itself, demanding to be allowed to make use of the Town Hall toilets.

"We had thought of chaining ourselves to the grille on the doorway of the toilets over the road," said Women's Section secretary Philipa Coughlan.

The Buckhurst Place toilets are already closed. They have been the subject of persistent criminal damage which has included vandals tipping cement into the toilet bowls.

Rother council, which needs to slash 550,000 off its spending if it is to avoid the risk of being capped, plans to close the public toilets at Marina and the Down in addition to Buckhurst Place.

The original proposal had been to close nine public toilets in the town as part of a district-wide economy.

Philipa Coughlan said later: "Following the small but significant protest outside the Town Hall we gathered quite a few signatures and did manage to get into the building and avail ourselves of the facilities!

"We also managed to speak to Graham Gubby. He outlined the cost implications of the past situation and that the consultation of closures was ongoing (probably over 18 months)."

She added: "On the issue of using the facilities in the Town Hall, he said these would be available under the discretion of the chief executive."

Philipa was joined at the protest by Dorothy Newbolt, Ada Jones and Joan Winterbottom.

Shivering in the cold, Joan, a former Rother councillor, said: "There were going to be a lot more or us, but we have been decimated by illness."

No the dreaded stomach bug?

"Well, some of them...

"At the moment I am desperate to spend a penny so I feel very strongly about toilet closures! How are people supposed to manage?"

The Women's Section is launching a petition to protest against the closures.

Philipa Coughlan said: "Any organisations wishing to support this campaign are welcome to contact me on 220337."