PEOPLE are being forced to relieve themselves outdoors because of a lack of public toilets in some South Lakeland towns and villages, it has been claimed.

The Easter bank holiday saw the first real test of South Lakeland District Council’s policy of disposing of less well used public conveniences because it says it could no longer afford to maintain them.

After the weekend, the Gazette received reports of visitors urinating outside toilet facilities after turning up and finding they were closed.

Alison and Paul Cresswell, who live near the closed conveniences at Low Fold car park, Ambleside, said that people were using the doorway of the loos and the wall against their property as a toilet.

“The final straw for us was on Saturday when the regular football coaches turned up and a line of supporters decided to relieve themselves on the wall and hedge adjacent to our property,” said Mrs Creswell.

“Where are people supposed to go and what message does this send to visitors?”

Until the weekend, Arnside’s only functioning public toilet was the disabled block on the promenade.

Resident Mike Wood said he had seen eight people queuing to use the toilet.

“There are women in quite a distressed state asking: ‘Where can I go to the toilet?’” he said.

“The lock was broken and we had men opening the door on women while they were on the toilet.”

Islay Watson, who regularly visits Arnside from Heysham, said: “I was shocked the other toilets were shut and only one toilet was in use for all the visitors to Arnside.”

Following the outcry, Arnside Parish Council is now to dip into its reserves to reopen the conveniences and keep them open during the summer.

Parish council clerk Rex Abbott said: “This is quite a high-risk strategy financially. The current arrangement will, in no circumstances, extend beyond early October.”

Richard Greenwood, policy and research manager at Cumbria Tourism, said fewer public toilets was a concern.

“We ask visitors how they rate their experience and toilets are quite often a disappointment,” said Mr Greenwood.

“We have been getting letters of complaint from people who have arrived at toilets that are closed.”

Last year, South Lakeland District Council closed some of its toilets which were not deemed a priority but continued running others.

The authority invited community groups, businesses and parish councils to take over the rest and, in March, the Kendal Community Toilet Scheme launched.

The Abbot Hall Coffee Shop is one of nine businesses in the town where people can spend a penny.

Operations manager Amanda Nicholson said: “There has been a lot of uptake and probably more than the council’s payment of £500 a year covers.

“It has a positive impact for us because it increases footfall.”

A SLDC spokesman said the toilet scheme in Kendal would be rolled out to other parts of South Lakeland.

Negotiations are still taking place between SLDC and interested parties about the future of public loos in Windermere and Bowness, all of which are open.

Eight public toilets in South Lakeland have now closed.