I FIND it astonishing that Bournemouth and Poole councils are closing so many public toilets - one of the most important conveniences (pun intended) in any town - due to lack of money.

Yet Bournemouth council has no problem in finding the cash to fund ridiculous shared traffic space schemes at the Boscombe’s Sovereign Centre and at Horseshoe Common - the latter requiring an additional expenditure of £120,000 to cover repairs to its fancy road surface less than three years after it was originally laid!

Public toilets are an essential service and could quite easily be self-funding with the imposition of charges for using them.

Closing toilets is short-sighted in the extreme and will undoubtedly lead to an increase in the number of people urinating (or worse) in public spaces and doorways - not only unpleasant and offensive - but costly to clean up.

And, by the way, Rick Thornton was incorrect (‘Missing point in toilets row’, Daily Echo, May 3) - the use of toilets at London’s main-line stations (until recently an outrageous 50p for a pee at Victoria) are now free!

ROBERT READMAN

Norwich Avenue West, Bournemouth

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