RUBBISH heaped in Salisbury Market Square and the “appalling” state of its public toilets are causing a bit of stink in the city.

Residents are putting pressure on the authorities to clean up the centre ahead of a busy summer for tourism.

Margaret Read, 77, of Queen Alexandra Road, Salisbury, said she was disgusted by the amount of rubbish in the Market Square on Sunday, when the International Market was in full swing.

Ms Read said: “To my horror when needing to visit the ladies this is what we were presented with.”

And she said the toilets “look and smell worse than ones from third world countries”.

Now Ms Read is calling for Salisbury City Council (SCC) and Wiltshire Council (WC) — which owns the square and is responsible for the toilets — to get the problem sorted.

City council leader and Salisbury Mayor Andrew Roberts agreed the facilities were in a poor state.

He said both councils were in talks and were hoping to find a solution.

“We all recognise it is not a satisfactory situation at all at the moment,” he said.

Cllr Roberts said various ideas had been put forward during discussions with WC, including handing over complete control of the square and toilets to the city council.

In an open letter, Salisbury resident Eric Hart described the toilets as “highly objectionable and smelly” and the Market Square as “a permanently grease-stained and slippery yard” with “a hideous disabled toilet hut and all surrounded by piles of commercial rubbish”.

A council spokesman said: "Our contractors are tasked with keeping Salisbury city centre streets at a high standard of cleanliness between 6am and 10pm, seven days a week. Between 6am and 8am every morning all city centre street areas are cleaned to a Grade A standard – the highest level of cleanliness. There is also a daily sweep of the city centre pavements in Salisbury and they are pressure washed on a monthly basis.

"We understand there are concerns that commercial rubbish, placed in the Market Place by local businesses, is causing an issue.

"The council is working with businesses in the area to ensure their rubbish is stored appropriately and there are arrangements for timely refuse collections.

"The council would like to remind all businesses that they have a legal responsibility to ensure their waste is stored correctly and collected by a registered waste carrier."

And amid rumours the toilet attendants in the Market Square facilities are to be scrapped to save money, a spokesman confirmed the council was "reviewing our public conveniences along with many other services and are looking into how best to run them in the future".

She added: "We will be consulting with local councils and users of the facilities over the next few months."