PUBLIC toilets have been closed in a Blackburn department store after allegations of a sex attack on a 14-year-old boy.

Anyone wanting to use the toilets in Debenhams now has to ask a staff member for a key.

It comes two months after toilets in Blackburn Library were locked to protect children when two men were caught engaging in sexual activity in a cubicle.

Police are not linking the two incidents.

Debenhams bosses said the alleged attack was among a spate of incidents, including vandalism, which police say have increased since the closure of the library toilets.

Craig Stewart, manager of Debenhams Blackburn, said: "We have been left with no other option than to lock the toilets.

“The key is available for customers wishing to use the facilities and we apologise for any inconvenience.”

Police said that at about 4.30pm on December 13, 2009, a man befriended a group of five teenage boys and girls in Church Street by offering to buy them alcohol and cigarettes.

When they ignored him and walked off to nearby Debenhams, he allegedly followed them.

Police claim the man then followed a 14-year-old boy into a toilet cubicle where he indecently assaulted him and forcibly caused him to engage in sexual activity.

On Monday, 32-year-old Turkish man Cevdet Yildiz, of South Street, Haslingden, pleaded not guity to both offences and was ordered to stand trial at Preston Crown Court.

PCSO Matt St Pierre of Blackburn town centre policing team, said: “This is a rare and isolated incident.

“There have been other incidents involving the toilets in Debenhams over the years, but I wouldn’t say they were really vandalism.

“They get a lot of kids hanging round Church Street going in and doing things like dying their hair in the wash basins which causes a lot of mess.”

Other town centre shops have said they will look into their policies on locking toilets.

A spokeswoman for Marks and Spencer in King William Street, said: “Now we have been made aware of the incident, we will be looking into our policy on locking toilet doors.”

A spokesman for Morrisons, in Railway Road, said: “Our colleagues and security team regularly check the toilets and we have asked them to be extra vigilant.”

Paul Hoyle, president of Blackburn Chamber of Trade, said he had not been made aware of problems in toilets by members, but would be raising concerns with them.

He said: “There’s probably only a few incidents happening, but shopkeepers must be vigilant as there are a few that will have toilets on their premises.”