A mid-range proposal for new toilets near the King’s Statue on Weymouth seafront has been given council backing.

But while design work is completed and planning permission sought for the third of a million pound project officers will also investigate if a slightly bigger option could be within its reach.

Also planned are two ‘modular’ toilets, at a cost of around £80,000, for the Pier Bandstand and Greenhill. These could be in place by the end of the financial year and may then be handed over to the new Weymouth Town Council to run.

But visitors and locals will still have to wait for the work to the main seafront toilets to begin. A lease on the former Tourist Information Centre, which is on the site of the development, does not expire until 2020.

Once completed the new loos are likely to include unisex cubicles, a family room, beachside showers, a commercial space and offices for the beach operations team. There is also likely to be a charge to use the facilities of between 20p and 50p, although this has yet to be formally resolved.

The preferred option for the main seafront toilets near the King’s Statue has been costed at between £320,000 and £364,000.

A more expensive option will also now be investigated with additional space to let, subject to what officers cost the project at, and whether the money is approved by the Cabinet and full council.

Development director, Martin Hamilton, warned that having a two storey building with space for a cafe-restaurant or shopping could add £300,000 to the bill for the main toilets scheme and would result in a delay while additional design work was carried out.

But Cllr Ray Nowak said that the delay could be tolerated.

"It’s essential that we get this right for the citizens of our town and for visitors,” he said.

Council leader Jeff Cant also back the idea of exploring the more expensive option while going ahead with the alternative, ‘value for money’ option in the meantime.

“We do need to have a more carefully thought out set of recommendations and while that takes place we will look and see if we can find the extra finance,” he said.

The borough council allocated £400,000 from its reserves in August 2017 to improve public toilets along the seafront.

Management committee members, meeting on Tuesday, also heard that the portable toilets in the Pavilion car park are likely to be close at the end of this year and taken away from the site.

Talks have been held about new toilets to serve that end of the seafront in the Alexander Gardens, or near there, on the Esplanade.