Scafell Pike 'blot on the landscape' toilets approved

New public toilets branded a "blot on the landscape" are to be built at the foot of England's highest mountain.

Lake District National Park Authority approved the new facilities for the Lake Head car park, Wasdale, near Scafell Pike in the Lake District.

The National Trust, who submitted the application, said it was "great news".

The authority's chairman, Mike McKinley, who lives at Wasdale, had proposed the plans be refused.

He said the building would be a "blot on the landscape in an iconic valley" and should be made with stone walls and a slate roof instead.

"While there is a need for toilets I don't believe this is the answer to our prayers," he said.

"I don't think a timber building with a metal rusty roof is in anyway, shape or form recessive in the landscape."

An estimated 290,000 people visit the area each year, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

It is popular with fell walkers climbing Scafell Pike and those doing the Three Peaks challenge.

The lack of facilities has led to complaints the peak itself "stinks of urine".

Authority member Hugh Branney said there was a "desperate need for these toilets in Wasdale".

"We know there are some issues around anti-social behaviour and I think this proposal sits in really well and will be screened by trees and off the road," he said.

Thirteen trees would be cut down to make way for the block but the authority said this would be mitigated by landscaping.

The National Trust withdrew an application for new toilets at nearby Wasdale Head, the main starting point for those walking up Scafell Pike, following a number of objections.

There are currently temporary portable toilets at Lake Head.