Toilets at a city centre garden may not reopen for more than a year, the council has revealed.

Public toilets at the Royal Pavilion Gardens in Brighton have been closed since October 2022 due to their poor condition and have been the focus of antisocial behaviour and vandalism.

Under a plan to redesign and restore the gardens, the public toilets will be replaced with a “world-class” toilet building to provide a safer environment for visitors.

Current estimates for the project, which will include a changing places toilet, suggest they could reopen by early 2025, before the main work to restore the gardens begins later that year.

However, Brighton and Hove City Council said the timings for the reopening of the toilets depend on whether a bid to the National Lottery Heritage Fund is successful.

The council is considering options to ensure there are adequate toilet facilities for those visiting the historic gardens, with more information due to be provided “in due course”.

Plans to redesign the Royal Pavilion Gardens include improved footpaths, the reinstatement of historic boundary railings, a new planting plan and potentially several statues, including one dedicated to Indian soldiers who fought in the First World War and were nursed in the Royal Pavilion, and another dedicated to suffragette Mary Clarke active in Brighton in 1909 and 1910.

Council leader Bella Sankey said: “The aim of the project is to ensure our unique and historic Royal Pavilion Garden is a garden fit for a city and that it retains its listed status.

“The plan contains exciting proposals to restore some of the garden’s former glory as well as ensure maximum use by residents and visitors.

“I’m particularly animated to see plans for a new world-class public toilet including a changing places toilet.

“I hope this report is agreed by the strategy, finance and city regeneration committee on Friday so that the bid to the National Lottery Heritage Fund can be made later this month and reach a successful outcome.”