TIMBER toilets on the A40 were soon to be a thing of the past when councillors agreed a £200,000 new 'relief' route.

Oxfordshire County Council announced the plans to pull down the toilet blocks at Forest Hill on the A40 between Risinghurst and Wheatley in July 1981.

They were set to be replaced by vandal-proof 'superloos'.

It was going to cost £200,000 to rebuild the toilets but to be paid by central government since the A40 is a trunk road the Ministry of Transport bear the cost.

The money would pay for 12 toilets and the cost was defended as much of it would go towards pumping sewage from the laybys into the Oxford sewerage system.

In comparison, in 1965 Oxfordshire County Council improved toilets on the westbound carriageway and the total cost was £775.