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60p for visits to the toilet !

(71 Posts)
Kupari45 Fri 10-Jul-26 12:23:58

Just come back from a week in the Lake district. Had a great time.
I have to drink lots of fluid during my day for health reasons.
Every time I used a public Toilet I had to pay 60p - with a credit card!.
Just checked my statement this morning, and had to laugh at all the entries of 60p . My bank must be wondering what is she buying in great numbers for 60p !

labazs Wed 15-Jul-26 14:40:56

60p is not too bad in the grand scheme of things. A lot of places its a pound or more. Makes nipping behind a hedge more appealing!

petra Tue 14-Jul-26 20:09:52

Kupari45
I’m surprised that your bank didn’t contact you Re the 60ps.
It’s known that when your card has been compromised the thieves try a small amount to see if a card is still active.
I was contacted a few days ago because there were 3 purchases close to each other for 2 £1 purchases and a £2.50.
Charity shop buys.

Fallingstar Tue 14-Jul-26 19:57:14

We’ve paid for toilets when travelling abroad, usually a formidable looking woman will sit at the entrance with a bowl or saucer collecting euros but I noticed that after a few women had gone in she would ask people to wait and check the loos were clean, flushed, and there was toilet paper. Not bad service.
Am happy to pay for this level of service.
Free toilets are very hit and miss. When out and about I have to be careful because my DH needs a disabled loo, so I have to check the loo is working and unlocked. On one trip out with our family we ate in a restaurant that we knew had a disabled loo but nobody checked it was working and it was out of order. The only other loos were up some stairs, so he had to use a disabled loo in the pub next door, I paid for a bottled drink as I always do if we use loos but don’t stay to eat or drink.

Plevey08 Tue 14-Jul-26 19:54:51

I accept these facilities need to charge. But originally free public loos were put it place as it is acknowledged as a bodily need. Also to stop people peeing in the streets and gardens. There used to be drinking water fountains in parks too...thirst also being a basic need. Now most carry plastic water bottles...is that better?

Greenywitch Tue 14-Jul-26 19:26:35

Went camping at Boroughbridge and their loos were free, because we paid to set up tent in the private camping site it was all inclusive. This was 10 years ago.

Better than in the New Forest where family took us all camping for a day when I was a kid during the 80's. No toilets but take a loo roll into the bushes!

HeavenLeigh Tue 14-Jul-26 19:15:33

I don’t think I’d begrudge 60p a visit to be honest if you got to go you’ve got to go. Rather that than the alternative

BlueBelle Sat 11-Jul-26 14:28:00

Whoops posted to soon I was going to say I never found a public toilet in Barcelona but everyone uses the pubs and eating places

BlueBelle Sat 11-Jul-26 14:25:28

Sane in Russia you pay the lady and get one small piece of loo paper
Our public toilets are all still free in my town

readsalot Sat 11-Jul-26 14:25:21

I don’t mind paying 60p for the loo. Last month I went to the library with DGD and paid her 12p fine for a late book with my card.

Grammaretto Sat 11-Jul-26 14:08:18

All the public toilets in my town have now closed.
One of the Council cuts.
If you need the loo you have to find a cafe or a pub or wet yourself

Our council tax is high enough but I guess in lieu of having some brilliant reimagining of what our taxes should be spent on, we put up with it and are glad the library is still open.

Not many tourists come here but I have been asked a few times where the nearest toilets are.

Oreo Sat 11-Jul-26 13:52:52

The problem in England, can’t comment on the rest of the UK ,public toilets are too few.Some locked for no obvious reason and hardly enough to start with.
Last year I was stopped by some German tourists as they needed the loo and I could only direct them to the nearest McDonalds.They were reluctant to go there as they said they didn’t needed any food or drink and felt guilty at using their facilities.
I told DP about this and without looking up from his newspaper he said ‘that’s why they lost the war’.

libra10 Sat 11-Jul-26 13:50:58

Do males have to pay, or is it just females?

Oreo Sat 11-Jul-26 13:47:05

When you think about it, prior to decimalisation nobody said
4 dee did they?

Oreo Sat 11-Jul-26 13:45:52

JaneJudge

It's a wonder your bank didn't pick it up as a possible fraud smile

Tbh I don't mind paying as long as there is someone on site making sure they are clean. There is a toilet in our town where you have to pay but they are safe and clean

That’s it, safe and clean.I think up to now that I have only paid 20pence ( I don’t like writing pee)😄

JaneJudge Sat 11-Jul-26 10:50:55

It's a wonder your bank didn't pick it up as a possible fraud smile

Tbh I don't mind paying as long as there is someone on site making sure they are clean. There is a toilet in our town where you have to pay but they are safe and clean

ViceVersa Sat 11-Jul-26 10:46:43

I live close to a bus terminus. There used to be a little public toilet next to it, which was used by the bus drivers, but it was demolished several years ago when they built a new housing estate next to it. I dread to think where they 'go' now. There is a designated bus drivers' toilet (which they have their own key to open) in a lay-by just on the outskirts of Edinburgh, but apart from that, I guess they've just got to hold it in!

Dickens Sat 11-Jul-26 10:18:37

ViceVersa

In our local authority area, I'm pretty sure most, if not all of the public toilets have been closed now.

I live in a Cotswold's tourist town.

There was one public toilet. It was closed, refurbished - and put on the market as a 'bijou' one-bedroom property. And snapped up PDQ.

We have dozens and dozens of hikers and walkers visiting (we're near The Cotswolds Way) as well as standard tourists.

... and nowhere for them to go other than the local hostelries.

Grandmadinosaur Sat 11-Jul-26 10:06:04

Currently on a break in Holland. It’s €1 here! I shall be using the facilities of any cafe etc go in at that price!

DaisyAnneReturns Sat 11-Jul-26 10:03:03

In the 1950s, when Britain used the old pre-decimal currency, 1d was 1/240 of a pound. Adjusting for inflation, 1 old penny in the early-to-mid 1950s has a purchasing power of roughly 50p to 70p today, depending on the exact year and which inflation measure is used. So 60p today is a reasonable approximation for what 1 old penny (1d) could and did buy in the 1950s.

Sometimes I wish people would be grateful for what we have. Of course, there are plenty of genuine grievances, but I feel that the online environment also encourages a more manufactured sense of being hard done by.

ViceVersa Sat 11-Jul-26 09:29:19

In our local authority area, I'm pretty sure most, if not all of the public toilets have been closed now.

Witzend Sat 11-Jul-26 09:13:31

IIRC a friend had to pay €2 in Rome or Florence.

cornergran Fri 10-Jul-26 23:18:08

If you’re in the south west I recommend a trip to Watchet. Pristine toilets free of charge. We both must have looked foolish yesterday trying to work out where to pay 😂

Aveline Fri 10-Jul-26 13:57:20

One sheet! Oh dear. Luckily I always have all sorts of tissues and wipes iny handbag.

ExDancer Fri 10-Jul-26 13:53:38

Same in Romania. ONE sheet!

kittylester Fri 10-Jul-26 13:52:22

Come to Loughborough - ours have been refurbished and are only 50p!

To be fair, our lakes are not quite so good.