'I don't want to buy a £4 coffee just so I can use the loo'

LoveFit café, near Brighton city centre train station, used to say its toilets were available to any passer-by, even if they weren't customers. However, owner Jason Bright said it became a disaster, as homeless people would lock themselves in for long periods. "They would sleep or take drugs in there, you would get abuse," Mr Bright said. "Having a public toilet was the worst thing I ever did."

Now, LoveFit café operates a customers-only policy, but makes exceptions for the elderly or those with young children. We all feel the urge to go sometimes, and for pregnant women, parents with children, and people with certain health conditions, it can be more frequent. In desperation, people would slip into cafés looking for help. But now, people are often met with a new problem: a metal numeric keypad that keeps out anyone without a receipt and a code. In smaller places, it might be a key hanging on a string and a piece of wood, but the essence is the same.

Many places have a "toilets for customers only" rule, and some are taking a stricter approach to enforcing it. Recently, Starbucks made headlines in the US [for changing its open policy](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdxnv4rjdq4o), prompting a rethink about whether our coffee shop-lined high streets are welcoming enough to those who want to use the facilities, but not spend money on coffee and a pastry. In the UK, Starbucks still allows non-customers in, but many rivals, including Costa Coffee, Pret a Manger, Waterstones, and many independent shops, are restricting who can use their loos.

Some places are even refusing people with medical conditions, says 27-year-old Ellen. "My dad had a kidney transplant and we went to one place, explained the situation, and they still refused," she said, but buying something all the time is too expensive. "Coffees are around £4, I really don't want to spend that much money to use the toilet." Alice, 25, sometimes sneaks in without buying anything, but always asks first. "If you ask nicely, more people are likely to let you use the toilet," she says.

Gemma Wardle thinks it should be a universal practice. She created the popular TikTok account, "London Loo," highlighting places to go when caught short. "If [a place] has customer toilets, they should be open to everyone," she says. She would like to see more public toilets, but does not understand why businesses cannot help. "Shops and cafés should be doing their best to make the experience better for all users, not trying to make it harder."

Many other social media accounts and apps can help you find toilets when you are out and about, including accessible ones that can be unlocked with a [radar key](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-ouch-22602836), used by disabled people. One café that is happy for anyone to use its toilets is 200 Degrees, a Nottingham-based chain, part of Caffe Nero, with 22 branches across the midlands and north of England. Commercial director Will Kenney says they think allowing non-customers in could be good for business overall. "People might feel obliged to get a coffee or a cake on the way out," he says. It's also better for staff. "No one wants to be the toilet police," he said.

But providing toilets is not free. He said that alongside more cleaning, there are increased costs for redecorating, and the obvious extra toilet paper, soap and hand towels. "We welcome people to come in, but we don't want our cafés to become public toilets." All of this would not be an issue if there were more public conveniences. But according to the British Toilet Association (BTA), the number of public toilets has halved since 2010. Cash-strapped local authorities have closed the facilities to focus on services they are legally obliged to provide.

Since 2018, the number of public toilets has increased again, but Raymond Martin, managing director of the BTA, says there are still less than 4,000, less than a third of what he estimates is needed for a growing and ageing population. Some local authorities have found a seemingly perfect solution: subsidising local cafés and shops to share their facilities. In many places, you can see stickers advertising that non-customers are welcome to use the toilet.

Unfortunately, Mr Martin says these schemes often fail, as local authorities see them as an opportunity to save money. "Once you get about 10 or 15 cafés involved, the council will say let's close [the public facilities]. What then happens is, those [café] toilets get overwhelmed," he said, "They can't cope." Private providers often pull out and put locks on their toilet doors.

Mr Martin believes coffee shops should not be left to fill the gap left by public facilities, especially when it comes to opening hours, as they cannot cater for early morning dog walkers, delivery drivers and evening joggers in the same way a public toilet can. "It's about public decency, public dignity, we can't have people going to the toilet behind a hedge," he said. He would like the government to make it a legal requirement for local councils to provide adequate facilities. The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents local authorities, says its members have been trying to address the problem by working with local businesses.

"However, councils are very clear that despite these efforts, there is still a gap in provision, for example where businesses on our high streets have closed," an LGA spokesperson said. The association is calling for a longer-term funding commitment from central government, which would allow local authorities to "plan for a transformation, rather than closure" of facilities, and even restore lost conveniences.