‘I don’t want to buy a £4 coffee just so I can use the loo’

None of this would be a problem if there were more public toilets.

But according to the British Toilet Association (BTA) their numbers halved after 2010. Cash-strapped local authorities closed facilities to focus on services they were legally obliged to provide.

Since 2018 numbers have risen again but Raymond Martin, managing director of the BTA, says that, at under 4,000, we still have less than a third of the number he estimates a growing and ageing population needs.

Some local authorities have leapt on what seems to be the perfect solution: to subsidise local cafes and shops to share their facilities. In many parts of the country, stickers can be seen advertising that non-customers are welcome to come in for the toilet.

Unfortunately, the schemes often break down, says Mr Martin, because local authorities see it as an opportunity to save money.

“As soon as they get about 10 to 15 cafes taking part, the council says let’s close [the public provision]. What then happens is those [café] toilets are swamped,” he says. “They can’t cope.”

Private providers often then withdraw, and put a lock on their loo door.

Mr Martin doesn’t think it should be left to coffee shops to fill the gap in provision, especially as they won’t cover the same hours as public toilets, catering to early morning dog walkers, delivery drivers, and evening joggers.

“This is about public decency, public dignity, we can’t have people defecating behind hedges,” he says. He wants the government to make it a legal requirement on local councils to provide enough conveniences.

The body representing local authorities, the Local Government Association (LGA), says its members have been trying to tackle the problem through partnerships with local business.

“However, councils are acutely aware that gaps in provision have opened despite these efforts, for instance where businesses have closed on our High Streets,” an LGA spokesperson said.

It is calling for longer-term funding pledges from central government that would allow authorities to “plan the transformation, rather than the closure, of facilities” and even restore lost conveniences.

Additional reporting by Lucy Acheson and Faarea Masud