Soho toilet known as cottaging hotspot up for sale

Westminster City Council has put the underground toilets on the market

An underground toilet in central London which became known as a place for men to meet for casual sex, is up for sale.

The facilities on Broadwick Street in Soho, which are currently closed, could be transformed into an "ice cream parlour or cafe", locals have claimed.

Emails between residents and the Met Police allege it was one of the most popular cottaging spots in the country.

Westminster City Council has put the toilets on the market but the Soho Society called the plans "ridiculous".

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A Met Police email seen by the Local Democracy Reporting Service said: "Broadwick Street toilets was listed as the top cottaging spot in the UK. This is all taking place directly in front of urinals with no attempt to hide the behaviour from anyone that would want to use the toilets.

"When the toilets are open we receive calls about this on a regular basis."

The activity of "cottaging" got its name from public toilets like these in Pond Square, Camden

The Soho Society, which has been calling for more public toilets in the area for the past 15 years, said the convenience could become "an ice cream parlour, cafe or even a bar".

Society chairman Tim Lord said the council was currently spending £950,000 a year cleaning up after the micturating merrymakers.

He added: "It will be ridiculous to close the public toilets in Soho. We have more drinking than we ever had. On Hopkins Street, you get people weeing on people's houses and into people's letterboxes."

"At the end of the night, men just urinate right next to the streets and sometimes right next to the closed toilets.

"I have reports of people urinating on front doors and they have to wash their doors down."

Westminster City Council recently launched a campaign following complaints from residents about people urinating in public in the borough.

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