Winter visitors 'caught short' by loo closures

Closed - all but four public toilets run by Anglesey council are shut over winter

Visitors to popular tourist hotspots on Anglesey are being caught short because public toilets are closed over winter, residents say.

Only a handful of facilities are operated all year round, based in the island's main towns.

It has led frustrated residents and tourists alike to call for a rethink.

Anglesey council said it was looking at funding options, but said financial pressures mean opening all its sites year round is "unlikely".

Across the whole of Anglesey, which covers 276 sq miles (715 sq km), there are 23 public toilets.

The council runs 15 of them, with community councils running the other eight.

Just four of the toilets operated by the council are open all year, located in Holyhead, Llangefni, Amlwch and Menai Bridge.

It means many eastern areas of the island have no public loos open at all in winter - despite still attracting thousands of tourists outside the busier summer season.

Nichola Richards has been visiting Anglesey from the Rhondda valleys in south Wales

At Benllech, one of Anglesey's most popular beaches, visitor Nichola Richards said it was a surprise to find the public toilets barred.

"We checked on the website this morning to visit Benllech, to check tide times and everything, and on the beach guide it states the public toilets are actually open, so we expected that they would be," she said.

"It's not too much of a problem for someone like myself, but obviously if you are elderly or disabled, or you have a medical condition, it would be more of a problem."

Jules Mellor lives in Benllech and says the lack of toilets in the winter causes problems for everyone using the beach

Local Benllech resident Jules Mellor said a lack of facilities in the winter leads to some people "doing as animals do" and using the woods behind the beach.

"That's not very nice," she noted.

"It is a problem. For the amount of tourists that we get here every year - it's a massive influx. It wouldn't take a great deal to just have somebody two or three days a week making sure it's ok."

It is not just residents and visitors in the town raising concerns, there are also local businesses.

Carys Thomas runs the Bay Cafe on the seafront, and during the winter months she says there is a steady stream of people coming in asking to use the toilets.

"More often than not, people want to come in to use the toilets and they don't end up buying anything," she said.

"We have a lot more volume of people, so of course it uses more hand soap, toilet paper, hand paper towels, and just generally the cleaning of the toilets.

"The priority is that they do need the toilets to be open - everybody needs the toilet."

Carys Thomas, who runs a cafe business in Benllech, says she wants the toilets to stay open over winter

Anglesey council said it was "very aware" of the demands on public toilets across the island.

An official said it was examining funding options for the future.

"Unfortunately, due to the financial pressure on the local authority at the moment, it is unlikely that it will be possible to extend the season at all sites and the council will endeavour to try and maintain the service at its current level," they added.

The council said it was also reviewing the use and cost of all its public toilets on the island "before considering if it is possible to open some of the toilets later in the year".