Bearded man wearing wedding dress reportedly propositioning people for sex led to toilet closure

A village's toilets have been closed after a bearded man in a wedding dress reportedly propositioned people for sex there. The public block, in Newton Poppleford, Devon, was locked up on Monday after a local was "accosted" the day before. Worshippers at a local church will be able to use the toilets on Sunday under supervision, the parish council said. The long-term future of the loo is being discussed with owner East Devon District Council (EDDC).



Parish Clerk David Atkins said the bearded man involved in Sunday's episode was in his late 50s or 60s. As a result, he said, the toilets would be closed "until further notice". But for the St Luke's congregation, which is without a toilet, there would be special dispensation, he said. "We will open them on Sundays, but they will be supervised by the church warden," Mr Atkins said. "If anything untoward happens he will see it."

Parish councillors will be discussing the measures at their next meeting on Monday. "We might have to look at installing CCTV or something like that," Mr Atkins said. "This has put the future of the loos in jeopardy because the council might say enough is enough." EDDC said it had contacted the council over "the issue of the toilets being used for gay sex" and was liaising with police. A site meeting would be held "to agree any appropriate action".



"In the meantime, we understand that the parish council has closed the men's toilets until further notice - although a key will be made available for church users." Vicar of St Luke's, the Reverend Mark Ward, said: "We have very good relations with the parish council and we welcome being given the use of a key to the toilets. I hope the toilets will not remain closed for the entire community because of this incident." Devon and Cornwall Police said it had not received a report of the incident.