As most of my friends on GN know up until the beginning of this year I had problems having to find a loo as soon as the urge occurred and the problems I faced where horrendous,if I wanted to use the loo and there was a queue I would ask ant attendant for the access to the disabled loo but with me looking as though I am in good health this request was always refused in the end until the problem was solved I had a letter from Urology nurse stating the problem and all was fine then.The thing is never to take people at face value as problems are not always obvious.

glamma I empathise with you on this matter.

soop thanks sweetie.

What a great article I expect quite a number of Grans will find it very illuminating ;)

glamma my DH has a card requesting urgent toilet access, saying that his condition is non-infectious but requires immediate toilet access. Being a man, he never uses it, but it was issued by his gastrology department in respect of his ulcerative colitis.

I find high toilets difficult! Being only 5ft and shrinking almost yearly, the lower the seat the better!
Squatting is the natural position and a hole in the floor would suit me.
I am very sympathetic, though, to anyone needing the higher seat.
Urgency to reach any toilet is my problem with Public toilets closing eveywhere.

You're in good company Tricia as both HM Queen and Prince Charles carry their own loo seats! Agree that the lower seats are a bind (sorry Sylvia 1231) and as a fit 5'7" I find them a challenge sometimes. Remind me of early schooldays though!

Uriwells and Travel Johns are both good for camping – saves you having to trek out in the rain for the night pee!

I'm horrified at your treatment glammanana. Did you follow it up? I do hope you complained because this should not be allowed to happen. The attendant might have had to do some clearing up if you - or anyone else in a similar position - couldn't 'hold on'!!! It's bad enough having urgency problems without having to deal with a jobsworth.

Not all disabilities involve a wheelchair. For example diabetics and those with catheters all need the extra space and [hopefully] more hygienic surroundings of the accessible toilet. If anyone has medical conditions they can carry a RADAR key for easy access - or a card as has been previously suggested.

At 5'7" I find low loos impossible. I get stuck and can't get off unless there is something to pull up on (which is firmly fixed to the wall!)

This made me think and I realised just how low the loo was at the JR hospital in Oxford yesterday! I can manage but I do see the point.

This petition, about public toilets, seems to be still open if anyone wants to sign....
epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/15258

I've signed it.

By the way, did anyone else catch the BBC comment about the Olympic site, that there were four times as many toilets for women as there were for men?
Don't know who said this, but they went on to say that someone got it right for once!

An article in last week's Sunday Times by Daisy Waugh called 'My dignity went down the pan' describes how she attended a Festival to find - as one does - the ubiquitous long queue for the ladies loos. She tried to rally the women to fight for the cause whilst the men looked on and sniggered and continued their way into the urinals. Not one woman was brave enough to join in. No wonder we have to queue in the rain. So much for equality.

However the tables were apparently turned at the Olympic site when men were having to queue whilst the women were, for once, amply provided for! Hopefully they got an inkling of how we feel when we visit a place of entertainment.

The British Standards for public toilets suggest ratios for Men / Women's toilets.

My sister has a bit of an 'urgency' problem and she had a terrible experience in the riots in Manchester last year. She had been to the theatre with a women's group and when they left the found all the buses had stopped running and most taxis. The toilets at the bus station had been locked and all the pubs and bars had shut. They finally managed to get a train and luckily it had a corridor and a toilet - however it was so filthy she said only her emergency would have made her use it. She thought she was going to have to do a 'Paula Radcliffe' which would have been difficult as she was wearing trousers.