The top ten authorities for vandalising public toilets have been flushed out by a parliamentary question asked by John Hemming MP for Birmingham (Yardley).

10.55.04pm BST (GMT +0100) Fri 19th Aug 2005

The top ten authorities for vandalising public toilets have been flushed out by a parliamentary question asked by John Hemming MP for Birmingham (Yardley).

Comparing the number of public toilets in an authority in 2002 and the number of public toilets in the same authority in 2004, it has been possible to work out what proportion of public toilets have closed.

The London Borough of Hillingdon comes out as the country's top toilet terror having closed 11 of their 18 public toilets, leaving less than 40% open. Second is Thurrock, closing 43% from 14 to 8. The London Borough of Barnet is third with a cut from 12 to 7.

Mansfield from 10 down to 6, Calderdale 29 to 18, Havant 11 to 7, North Kesteven 11 to 7, West Wiltshire 11 to 7, Bexley 15 to 10, and Brent 9 to 6 follow closely behind in the league, cutting at least a third of their conveniences.

"This is not just inconvenient", said Mr Hemming, "this causes substantial problems for many people who have to plan their days based upon what facilities are available."

"The blame for this situation has to rest primarily with the government, however. They have created a situation in which they force Local Authorities to respond to central targets - and there is no "toilet target". It is new Labour's fault that the toilets are going down the drain."

"The answer, however, is not to introduce "toilet targets", but instead to reduce the number of targets so that Local Authorities can respond more to Local Needs."

John Hemming is working with the British Toilet Association to ensure that the importance of public toilets is recognised.

ENDS