The first two public toilet closures have been announced in North Yorkshire in a bid to save £21,000 a year.

The closures are not in the Harrogate district, but local people could be affected soon as North Yorkshire Council seeks ways to save money.

The Stray Ferret revealed last week North Yorkshire Council was considering seasonal closures, reduced opening hours and permanent closures to save money on its network of 94 public conveniences.

The network is forecast to overspend by £205,000 in this financial year.

Now toilets on Wentworth Street in Malton and the Back Micklegate conveniences in Selby have been identified for closure.

Harry Briggs, the council’s head of waste operations and street scene, wrote in a report to a meeting next week of the council’s ruling Conservative executive the closures were “part of an ongoing strategic review” that had “identified sites that are underused, costly to maintain, or subject to repeated anti-social behaviour”.

Mr Briggs says the Malton toilets could reopen as part of a double devolution deal with Malton Town Council but the ones in Selby, which have suffered “persistent vandalism and drug-related activity for a number of years”, have been permanently axed.

His report says closing both sites “will result in operational savings in excess of £21,000 annually and help reduce the ongoing overspend position in the service”.

The council has invited parish councils to run toilets, but parish councils have concerns about taking over the financial burden.

Public toilets are a non-statutory service, which means councils are not obliged to provide them.

The council plans to use £57 million of its reserves by 2028 due to its worsening financial situation.

Cllr Gareth Dadd, the Conservative executive member for finance, warned residents last month to “be prepared for the most severe budget round that this authority and its predecessors has ever faced”.