Ornate panels around public toilets on St Vincent Place 'smashed to pieces'

Ornate panels around public toilets at St Vincent Place have been smashed “to pieces” despite an order to retain them.

Work on the site has been stopped to allow the remains of the damaged cast iron railings to be preserved, according to a “furious” councillor.

Councillor Ruairi Kelly, SNP, the council’s convener for built heritage, said he had halted the work on Tuesday morning after what appeared to be a “breakdown in communication”.

Contractors have been on site as part of a project to remove the toilets to “declutter” the area and open up the public space. The panels were to be retained for reuse elsewhere.

Cllr Kelly said he was “finding it difficult to express how utterly furious I am this morning”.

He added: “The instruction was to retain these, not smash [them] to pieces. I have stopped all work this morning so that we can preserve what is left.

“I have instructed all of the iron works to be recovered and have already spoken to Glasgow City Heritage Trust about finding an organisation that can help restore the panels for future use.”

It is understood the railings were once used at the old Glasgow Cross station.

A council report in June had stated officials were “aware of strong market interest to develop the existing public toilet site at St Vincent Place for an alternative use”.

It added options were being investigated with Healthmatic Ltd, the council’s public toilet provider, to “exit this location by March 31, 2027, and make the land available for future development”.