By Jane Renouf

COSTLY vandalism to Lake District toilets has been reduced to zero after a parish council installed high-definition CCTV in all its charging conveniences.

Lakes Parish Council was forced to take action after a number of incidents caused temporary closure to some loos which ate into the income received from the facilities.

A meeting of the council heard that its seven public toilets located in Ambleside, Grasmere and Chapel Stile raised income of approximately £46,000 but cost in the region of £69,000 to run last year. The service is subsidised using income from the council-run White Platts recreation ground.

The cost of vandalism in the first half of the year was described as being 'substantial', with a bill of £500 just for repair of one entry gate paddle after it was kicked off. There were also other incidents which caused temporary closure of some toilets and a loss of income while they were out of action.

It prompted the parish council to install high-definition CCTV in all its charging toilets with signage warning people they were on camera, which had the effect of reducing vandalism to zero.

The council also operates two free seasonal toilets, at Chapel Stile and Rothay Park, Ambleside. Parish councillors learned the demand for toilet facilities has shot up in the park since the popular new playground area nearby opened last summer.

Writing in the Lakes PC Newsletter, clerk Michael Johnson said although these loos are checked three times a day, the sheer numbers of visitors using them left them looking ‘trashed’ because cleaning staff could not keep pace with usage.

Mr Johnson said the toilets were never meant to be more than a simple facility for passers-by and not for constant use.

However, the reputation of the new state-of-the-art play area was spreading and visitors expected the adjacent loos to be pristine and continually cleaned.

Councillors are considering how to meet the huge increase in demand for the public toilets, where facilities are very basic. They have no electricity supply, and the paper hand towels provided instead of hand dryers soon resulted in major litter problems and blocked toilets, so had to be removed.

The cost of installing electricity would be about £15,000 and discussions about Rothay Park toilets are to be held with South Lakeland District Council, who lease them to Lakes Parish Council.

The toilets are closed during the winter months, but the play area is in continuous use all year round, with no other public loos close by. Mr Johnson said he hoped the parish council could come to some decision about how to deal with these issues in the next few months.