Waterloo pubs offer their toilets for public use

Lambeth Council's community toilet scheme is part a plan to make sure no-one has to walk more than 500 metres to find a toilet in the borough's town centres by 2010.

Shops, restaurants and other businesses will be given up to £1,000 a year to open their toilets to members of the public who won't have to make a purchase to use the facilities.

In Waterloo four pubs and bars have joined the scheme already:

• Cubana – 48 Lower Marsh
• The Crown & Cushion – 133-135 Westminster Bridge Road
• The Hole in the Wall – 5 Mepham Street
• Walrus Social – 172 Westminster Bridge Road

Businesses participating in the scheme display signs in their windows so town centre visitors can clearly identify that their toilets are open for use by non-customers.

"People have the right to expect access to decent toilet facilities when they visit town centres and this scheme offers more toilets of a high standard to the public," says Cllr Nigel Haselden, Lambeth's deputy cabinet member for sustainability.

"I will be encouraging other businesses to ... sign up, because by working with local businesses to make more clean, safe and accessible toilets available for the public, we can benefit shoppers, businesses and the community alike.”

The cash is intended to help towards maintaining the toilets to a decent standard. The council says that participating businesses will be regularly inspected to ensure that standards are maintained and that grants are being spent effectively.

Waterloo does not currently have many publicly-accessible toilets. There is a 'superloo' tucked away in Granby Place off Lower Marsh. Network Rail recently increased the charge for using the toilets at Waterloo Station to 30p.

The British Toilet Association has repeatedly complained about the lack of public toilets along the South Bank; their representations were included in a recent House of Commons select committee report.