Up to everyone to help keep public toilets open

Published on 13 May 2024

Public toilets are valued facilities in our towns and communities but the thoughtless actions of a small number of people can result in temporary closures following deliberate damage and mis-use.

Staffordshire Moorlands District Council is receiving an increasing number of complaints about the cleanliness and state of repair of these public amenities.

A regular schedule of cleaning is in place but this relies on the people using the toilets helping to maintain their cleanliness.

Vandalism and people leaving the toilets in a mess often results in closure whilst the Council carries out expensive repairs leaving the public with no facilities in the meantime.

The Council is now appealing to everyone who uses public toilets to do so responsibly and with other users in mind.

Councillor Charlotte Atkins, Cabinet member for Services, said: "The Council provides public toilets for the benefit of residents and visitors as we know people value these facilities.

"The toilets are cleaned regularly but our team can't be everywhere at the same time and keeping toilets clean relies on everyone using them to do so responsibly and with other users in mind.

"Most people respect this and don't deliberately damage or deface them but we are increasingly receiving reports of toilets in unkempt states or being deliberately vandalised.

"This is entirely avoidable and we don't want to waste money on costly repairs only for them to be vandalised again.

"Everyone has a responsibility to ensure the public amenities they use are left in a clean and serviceable condition for other people so we're urging the minority of people who abuse these facilities to treat them properly and use them appropriately."