A TOURIST who has travelled all over Europe and America described the public toilets in a South Lakeland village as the worst he had ever seen.

In a letter to the Hawkshead village website, Trevor Williamson praised the village, calling it a ‘true Lake District gem’, but said it was let down by ‘filthy’ public toilets.

“They were so bad my son refused to use them,” wrote the Scottish holidaymaker.

“I cannot imagine when they were last properly cleaned.

“There was mould all over the cistern and graffiti you would expect to find in an inner city pub.

“It was horrendous.

“In the car park there were visitors from all over Britain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany and many other countries.

“I was embarrassed to think this hellish place could be their introduction to your wonderful village.”

The toilets are in the Lake District National Park Authority’s car park, but are cleaned and maintained by South Lakeland District Council (SLDC).

On receiving the letter, Hawkshead Parish Council asked ward councillor Colin Davies to investigate.

Coun Davies visited the men’s toilets twice a day for a week with County Coun Claire Salisbury to check the ladies’ facilities.

He said the walls of the toilets had recently been repainted, removing any graffiti, and found, on the whole, the toilets were clean, in good working order and well stocked with soap and toilet roll.

“On more than one occasion the toilets had not been flushed so I flushed them,” he said.

“The urinals were also clean although there was evidence of people spitting chewing gum into them.

“It was clear that actually the toilets were being regularly cleaned but the users were abusing them.”

A spokeswoman from SLDC said the toilets were thoroughly cleaned every morning and inspected in the afternoon.

“Obviously when there is a huge influx of visitors at any one time, ten minutes after they have been cleaned they can need doing again,” she said.

“We can’t afford to have permanent staff at the toilets but we do try to respond to complaints as soon as possible.”