Shops and pubs will be relied upon to provide public loos in Gravesend town centre as part of a Community Toilet Scheme.

Officers from the borough council are continuing to identify key locations and premises that they feel would be suitable, and are developing a policy with which to approach businesses.

The Messenger revealed last month that toilets in Clive Road, convenient for commuters heading in and out of Gravesend railway station, and Parrock Street are to close in a bid to make savings of almost £40,000.

The council is confident, however, that the new scheme will more than make up for the lost capacity.

If enough businesses agree to take part, the council says “it is very likely there will be more provision than currently exists” – including remaining council-run loos in Gravesend Borough Market and the civic centre off Community Square.

Similar schemes have been run successfully in Ashford and Maidstone, where firms like McDonald’s have been happy to sign up.

Maidstone council pays small businesses and larger firms £600 a year to help with cleaning supplies, with details of participating businesses publicised on websites, maps and apps, and stickers displayed in windows.

The Gravesham council scheme could extend beyond the town centre, as loos in Perry Street, Northfleet, The Street, Cobham, and Meopham Green are also being shut.

They could all be gone by March 31 as the council looks to make major savings.

As for what could become of the soon-to-be disused facilities, a council spokesman said they could be leased, converted, or demolished.

They said: “The council does not own all the public toilets, and the majority of them are leased.

“For the premises that are leased, it will be down to the owners of the building to decide what they do with them in the future.

“Where the council does own the building, an assessment will be made as to whether it has any potential to be converted for another use or be disposed of.”

If other parts of the county are anything to go by, the decommissioned toilets could be knocked down for parking spaces or transformed for commercial use.

Back in October, Medway Council approved a planning application to have an old toilet in a viaduct arch under New Road in Chatham turned into a micropub.

The bar area will be less than two metres wide and just over three metres long, and the pub will be open between 11am and 11pm seven days a week when it opens.