Council cleans up at toilet Oscars

Brighton & Hove scoops a prestigious national prize for the best public loos in England – the Oscars of the toilet world.

The city’s toilets brushed aside the opposition and were awarded first place in the inf-loo-ential Loo of the Year awards for their cleanliness, facilities and accessibility to everyone – including adults, children, babies and people with a disability.

As well as taking first place in the Best Local Authority Toilets in England category, it also picked up the number one spots for Best Beach Toilets in the UK, (West Pier Arches) and Best Crematorium Toilets in the UK (Hove Cemetery South).

Judges look at more than 100 different criteria before choosing the finest loos in the land, giving them a ‘platinum’ or ‘gold’ or ‘silver’ grade following an unannounced visit by a fully trained and authorised Loo of the Year Awards Inspector.

The council entered all of its 37 toilets for awards and almost swept the board with 17 Platinum (more than any other local authority in the UK), 16 Golds and 4 Silvers, meaning the city council came second overall in the all-category UK local authority ‘Premier League’.

The table ranks local authorities with ten or more entries and winning five or more Gold or Platinum awards, and who in the opinion of the inspectors, are maintaining a ‘consistently high standard of management in all their Loo of the Year Awards entries’.

Cllr Gill Mitchell, chair of the council’s Environment, Transport & Sustainability Committee, said: “This is a fantastic achievement and one that is great news for everyone who lives, works and visits our wonderful city.

“Of the 37 toilet sites across the city, the majority of these are RADAR accessible toilets, have baby change facilities, and two are special Changing Places toilets that have extra features and more space to meet the needs of people who use them.”

She added: “I am also extremely pleased that we will be able to keep all of our public toilets open despite further cuts in our overall Government funding.”

The Loo of the Year Awards are independently run, sponsored by leading toilet and hygiene equipment companies and supported by the four UK national tourism bodies – Enjoy England, Visit Scotland, Visit Wales and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board.