A political row has broken out over the issue of electricity bills for a public toilet block in Oxenhope which was closed down seven years ago and was sold into private hands last year.

The Lowertown block, which Bradford Council shut in 2005 amid complaints that the location was a focal point for anti-social behaviour, has been partially demolished.

Councillor Glen Miller, leader of the Conservative group, has criticised the authority after discovering evidence that the Council “is still paying a regular electricity bill of up to £80 per quarter for a public lavatory that has been closed for all these years”, a situation he has described as “comical”.

But his claims have been dismissed by Council bosses who insist that the electricity supply at the toilet block was disconnected in 2007 – two years after the facility was closed down – and that no electricity charges have been paid since then. Coun Miller stood by his claims, and added: “In the light of the fact that the block has been sold and partially demolished, it’s all the more inexplicable that the Council has continued to pay estimated bills.”

Councillor Andrew Thornton, the Council’s executive member for environment, sport and sustainability, waded into the row, adding that if Coun Miller had any evidence to the contrary then he should supply it so the matter can be looked into.

Of the standing charge of £100 a year that officers confirmed were paid from when the toilets were closed down in 2005 to when the electricity was disconnected in 2007, Labour’s Coun Thornton, said that this error took place under a “different political administration” – the Conservatives, who were in charge of the authority at the time.

“I’m being told that the Council has not paid any such bills since the supply was disconnected,” he added.

A spokesman for the Council said: “The toilet block in Oxenhope was closed in 2005 and the electricity supply was disconnected in March 2007.”