The introduction of a charge to use the only public toilet in a major city has been labelled “disgusting” by frustrated locals.
Nottingham City Council brought in the 50p charge at the Greyhound Street toilet after being plagued by financial woes.
The authority claims it would struggle to maintain the toilets without the fee due to “vandalism” and “cost of repairing”.
Residents and visitors to the city hit out at the decision after learning about the new charge which has been branded as “unfair”.
A 50p charge is now needed to pass the barriers
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Man urinating next to sign telling him not to
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Andrew Henderson, 77, from Clifton, said: “This has really got me back up.”
The pensioner is recovering from a form of prostate cancer and needs regular access to facilities while shopping.
“Where do I go now?” he said.
“I don’t want to play on having cancer ‘down there’, but it would have been a lot easier if I could have gone in there.”
An alarmed barrier stops the public from entering the toilets unless a card-only payment is made.
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Andrew Henderson, 77, asked ‘Where do I go now?’
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However, when GB News visited the area card payments failed to generate access which people willing to pay called “very annoying”.
The Labour-run council, which declared itself effectively bankrupt a year ago, estimates the fee will generate £64,000 this financial year.
Since the introduction, the side street the toilet is in has seen a huge increase in public urination, according to a business owner.
Alex Ward, Technical Director of Seeing Solutions, said “A lot of people find 50p to be quite steep and so we’ve had people urinating on Greyhound Street and it’s putting customers off.”
“It’s not very pleasant. It absolutely stinks.”
The next nearest toilet is a 10 minute walk away
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Alex Ward, Technical Director of Seeing Solutions, said the 50p charge was ‘quite steep’ for a lot of people
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A sign in the alley posted by the council reminds people that urinating in the street is an offence punishable by a £100 fine.
The area is subject to a Public Spaces Protection Order and CCTV is in the area, the sign states.
“If the council were looking to make more money,” said Alex, “posting someone to fine people for peeing on the street would make them an awful lot of money.”
In recent weeks, the bankrupt council has faced criticism for cancelling the annual bonfire celebrations with the toilet fee adding to residents’ fury.
In November 2023, council officers assessed that they could not balance the yearly budget, blaming rising costs and reduced funding from central Government.
Two other toilets are a ten-minute walk away, in a shopping centre and car park, which are too far for some elderly or disabled people to walk.
A CCTV sign warns of a £100 fine
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Steven Williams, 34, from Aspley, said the 50p price is “a bit steep”.
“I’ll pay it just to use the toilet, but 50p to some people is quite a bit just to use a public toilet that they should be able to use anyway.”
The toilets are also a lifeline for homeless people and bus drivers.
One homeless man, who asked to remain anonymous, said “I don’t mind them charging. I live on the streets anyway.”
The 57-year-old who has been homeless for three months said, “some of the homeless people will do exactly what they have to.”
Man publicly urinating just metres away from the bathroom
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A bus driver, who was upset but didn’t give his name, called the charge “disgusting”.
“We used to have toilets 24 hours in the 80’s – manned, clean.”
“Now they’ve gone down. Nottingham’s gone down.”
The driver said working without access to toilets “affects you big time”.
“After a certain time, we’ve got no toilets anyway,” he said. “I think we’re going backwards not forwards.”
A Nottingham City Council spokesperson said: “Due to past vandalism and the cost of repairing and operating the toilets, people now have to pay to use the facilities.
“It’s common in most cities that still have public toilets to charge and it means that we can keep these toilets open.
“There are other public toilets to use across the city, but having card and contactless payments only at these ones, means we can reduce the risk of vandalism and theft.”
