IT is fair to say most people's perception of public toilets will conjure up images of water-logged floors, empty toilet roll holders and overpowering smells.
IT is fair to say most people's perception of public toilets will conjure up images of water-logged floors, empty toilet roll holders and overpowering smells.
However, holidaymakers visiting Great Yarmouth caught short while walking along the Golden Mile or shopping in the town centre can expect to find the public toilets in a pretty good state.
Intrepid Mercury reporters Miles Jermy and Laura Bagshaw revisited seven council-run toilets in Yarmouth on a Friday afternoon recently to check out the state of the loos.
It follows similar surveys carried out last year and in 2005, ensuring the borough's loos aren't a complete turn-off for visitors and for the impending summer season.
Generally, the town's loos are
in a very good state with not one empty toilet roll holder in sight, an improvement on last year.
Although the borough's public loos are not the most striking of buildings and look a little shabby on the outside, it's what is on the inside which counts.
Each toilet was assessed using a rating system according to
specific criteria, including general cleanliness, levels of graffiti, hand-washing and drying facilities, provision of toilet roll and baby changing facilities. The top mark was five.
Top marks in the ladies porcelain premiership went to the loos next to Market Gates, which were well lit and had a fresh smell.
Also scoring highly was the Jetty and The Conge which had good washing facilities.
The baby changing room in the Jetty, however, was looking a bit shabby with paintwork beginning to look patchy.
Lifting the lid on the men's loos there were respectable scores across the board, with just a couple of conveniences, Caister Road and North Drive, failing to rise above the bog standard.
Toilets on North Drive, next to the bowling green, scored better than last year, with general cleanliness having improved, although chipped tiles and paintwork tainted its overall appearance.
Toilet roll was plentiful at the toilets at North Drive, opposite Salisbury Road, which also looked clean and fresh. The only graffiti found in the
ladies toilets was at Caister Road, and also letting this toilet down
was litter scattered across the floor.
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