Beach toilets are disgusting.

You’d think so. When I worked for the council they were entirely seperate. Litter bins and loos fell under environmental services along with regular bins and were funded by council tax. Parking and traffic wardens were a seperate “self funded” department and the surplus put in council coffers at end of year. I do think a proportion of parking charges should fund local amenities tbh.

Due to budget cutbacks all the loos have closed spart from two tourist spots where they make enough to be self funding.

We have pit toilets/ outhouses where I live. They don't flush the crap just piles up literally. By this point in the summer you can smell them from 100 meters away.and the flies are something else.

I live in Cleethorpes. We have a distinct lack of toilets. We knocked our main block down last year. Currently sporting a dozen portaloos that are often set fire to or knocked over.
You expect to use a loo?- don't come here.

We were in north wales this summer and i was expecting the usual grimness when taking DD for a wee…but all the ones we went to were very clean. Saved a fortune on dettol wetwipes!

I've been in public toilets at several different beaches this Summer and I have been impressed with all of them. Most recently at Barry Island, where there is a huge number of visitors using them all day. I think toilets are FAR better than when I was a child in the 60s and 70s. Gold star to the Council at Barry - where everywhere was beautifully clean and well looked after.

In terms of 'who pays' - I do feel that the £££s you pay to park ought to be taken into account when you ask who covers the Council keeping the toilets clean and well stocked. That money is going in to the Council, and hopefully being used to clear litter, empty bins, and provide toilets.

I find it really annoyingly hard to wee in the sea for some reason.

Public loos are not really great are they? It's awful when you finally come across one and it's closed; and it's only 5 pm or something.

Having said that they are better than they used to be years ago in the seventies and eighties. There's more likely to be loo roll at least.

Why not just wee in the sea?

Yes - YOU'VE reminded ME of school. About 90% of the girls at my school signed a very detailed report on that greaseproof paper we had, advocating for the soft stuff. The headmistress was so impressed with the way we'd gone about it that she persuaded the governors (or whoever was responsible) to get the soft stuff for us! I'd like to think the deciding line was mine: "are we supposed to be wiping or sandpapering our urethras?".

Had our annual UK beach holiday and I spend the day dehydrated (slight exaggeration but I don't drink much) to eliminate the need to use the vulnerable toilets.

I then chug the water when I know I'm were back at our cottage and repeat all holiday.

The kids wee in the sea / have better bladders than I do so hold it. DP says the mens loos are "bearable for a quick wee"

It's such a shame and I'm another one who would happily pay for clean, decent toilet facilities.

Very strange - I wonder if someone had urinated on bleach in the toilet - some urine turns red on contact with hypochlorite bleach

The ones at our local beach are pretty good. There’s a set at either end of the prom. I prefer the old ones without the fancy all in one soap/water/dryer machines, just normal sinks and soap dispensers with wall mounted dryers

Exactly this

What is wrong with people? Why can’t they clean up after themselves? Disgusting.

Me too. Such a basic need. Pubs and restaurants don’t want non customers trailing in without buying so what are we supposed to do? I was in Bakewell last week and they had a pay as you go lol which accepted cash and contactless. 20p. Marvellous!

ii cant believe it isn't mandatory for a town to have a toilet for the public to use

Last time I went to the beach, there was Carrie amounts of blood in one toilet but oddly all down the back of the pan and cistern almost like someone poured it down. I dont think it was a medical issue because it was so neat. I didnt look past the door but it definitely looked like blood and wasnt fresh.

Another toilet was almost overflowing. There was something wrong with another 2 as well. So basically there was one toilet. As you can imagine that was struggling!

Who should fund the cost of the public loos in popular tourist destinations? If it is the council, then the local residents are funding it via their council tax, but are unlikely to be the main users. Paying for staff and toilet cleaning are not statutory requirements unlike social care and education. I would be all for local authorities in tourist areas charging a tourist tax to raise income to fund public loos. Or having them chargeable on use.

But it is the people who are disgusting. Leaving loos in that state is caused by revolting people.

I haven’t been to one since I was a child and even now I don’t use public toilets unless the place we’re visiting is somewhere very nice so I expect the toilets to be clean too

I would quite happily pay £1 to use a toilet is said toilet was clean and pleasant. Public toilets in essence are revolting.

I made a complaint to John Lewis the other week as their toilets were disgusting. It was a Sunday and they obviously had no cleaners on shift, they were filthy, piss on the floor, even the white walls were disgusting.

I found the Stansted airport ones quite /very clean ( the ones near all the eateries)

Pretty much this, lack of money plus an influx of people who lack basic consideration. I know most people are considerate but if you have 100 people using a toilet and five of them make a mess that they don't bother cleaning up then the toilet is very quickly going to become disgusting (and it's way more than 100 people using the facilities each day).

I live in a coastal area and on sunny days it's largely not the locals using the toilets as we don't tend to go to the beaches popular with the tourists. Toilets end up minging due to the sheer volume of people using them, tracking sand in, leaving a mess, etc.

They're much cleaner in the winter when there are less people, albeit much colder!

Councils have no legal obligation to provide or maintain public toilets.

At this point, it’s lucky if you find one that is even open.

I’m in a seaside tourist area where most have been closed, or sold off. Those that are still open are cleaned and maintained by community volunteers or local businesses.

If we want decent toilets then we will need to pay a fee to use them. Unfortunately most councils are broke and can’t afford to pay the staff needed to keep up with the cleaning needed to deal with the vile people who make such a mess public loos.

I actually don’t mind paying to use a beach toilet if it means it’s actually clean, they flush and there’s loo roll and soap.

Cinema toilets when I was growing up always seemed to be gross - not flushing, no loo roll, toilet doors which don’t lock etc. I always thought it dreadful given how much cinema tickets cost. But to be fair, in the last 15 years or so they seem to have been better.

I was in Tenerife the other week. Went to use the beach toilets and they were possibly worse than the Glastonbury festival toilets. I don’t understand how people can consistently fail to get their arses at least near the toilet, then walk away from the crime scene?