The cost of spending a penny has become too much for Tendring to bear.

Now, its council is seeking relief for by asking residents on which loos it can pull the chain.

Tendring Council operates 41 public conveniences, which council leader Neil Stock believes is more than any other council has in the entire country.

At a meeting of Cabinet on Friday, Coun Stock told members Manchester just has the one council-operated loo and Newcastle none at all.

“A lot of them are squalid, horrid little buildings that don’t do anything for anybody," he said.

"They are a massive drain on our resources and we are going to look at them.”

Mr Stock made his comments as members discussed a financial report which noted Tendring Council has had to pay its contractor an extra £24,000 over three months after it said it could not continue on the current terms.

Tendring Council has a budget of £225,000 for cleaning, plus a further £137,650 for maintenance each year.

Mr Stock said in the next few weeks the council would begin a review of its public conveniences, aiming to have firm proposals for the autumn.

“Do they provide a viable service, or are they a relic of a bygone age,” he asked.

“We pay a fortune at the moment, there’s maintenance, cleaning and we have to pay business rates on them,” he said.

“We owe it to our residents to provide value for money and having 41 toilets is not providing value for money. We are not proposing to get rid of all 41 but we can’t provide toilets for every single elderly person who wants one.

“These days there are coffee shops, pubs, restaurants and other businesses that have them. If we can survive in Newcastle without the council having to provide toilets, I am sure we can do the same,” he said.

Mr Stock wants people to tell the council what toilets are a waste of money and which ones they would like to keep.

“Please help us out with this,” he asked the district, “We have to save money as soon as possible.”