PENSIONERS fear plans to close the only public toilets on Oxford’s largest estate will make its streets smell like an open Victorian sewer.

Cash-strapped Oxford City Council has decided to close seven public toilets across the city to save £50,000 a year, including facilities in Knight’s Road, Blackbird Leys.

Toilets in Castle Street, Littlemore, Woodstock Road and South Parade in North Oxford, Barns Road in Cowley and Headington Hill Park are also being sold off or demolished.

Last night, residents and community leaders in Blackbird Leys criticised the move.

They said elderly people relied on the facilities and that they were well-used by football fans on match days.

The facilities in Knight’s Road are the only ones on the estate.

Former parish council chairman Brian Lester, of Pegasus Road, Blackbird Leys, said: “There are many elderly residents on this estate who towards their twilight years need somewhere to relieve themselves.

“The thought of seeing the return of the ‘pee behind the shops’ system makes me want to reel.

“The area will soon smell of an open sewer reminiscent of the Victorian era.”

Mr Lester said Blackbird Leys Parish Council had fought long and hard to reopen the toilets when they were shut several years ago due to vandalism, and spent £2,000 refurbishing them.

He added: “It’s no good expecting shops or pubs, or council facilities, to open so that people can use their facilities.

“Opening the community centre for longer will cost more that the cost of keeping the toilets open – and who is going to have to police these toilets?”

Parish councillor Cyril Martin, of Merlin Road, said it was a basic human right to be able to go to the toilet.

The 81-year-old said: “This is 2009, we should have proper toilets by now.

“When you get to my age and the call of nature is a bit more frequent than it was say 40 years ago.”

Michael Rawlings, 74, of Sawpit Road, said: “It’s a bit silly.

“What happens if you’re disabled and you’re going down the road and you need to go quick?

“You can’t walk into a shop and say: ‘Look mate, can I use your toilet?’ “At the end of the day people will suffer.”

The city council also plans to refurbish toilets in Gloucester Green at a cost of £300,000 next year, and charge people 20p a go.

City councillor John Tanner, executive board member of a cleaner, greener city, said: “We are keeping open the toilets most people use most of the time.”

He added the city’s finances were the worst he had ever seen.