A FEW months ago, I visited a Cornish beauty spot for a walk. Having arrived at the visitor car park and paid our dues, Daughter and the Other Half were keen to use the loo before setting off.

They were in for a rude shock. The toilets were out of order. At the small café/serving hatch nearby, a handwritten sign made it clear visitors should not ask to use its loos on the grounds of “health and safety”. This struck me as a needless cliché under the circumstances; I would have sympathised more if the owners had simply fessed up to not wanting hordes of people sauntering through their premises without buying anything.

Our walk began under considerable pressure. I had a distressed teenager desperate for a pee, and a trek across a golf course with precious few bushes that lent themselves to this. Eventually, Mafeking was relieved, as my mother-in-law would say, but the damage was done – the experience made us feel unwelcome as visitors, and I’d think twice about going back.

An online search revealed the loos in question had been devolved (synonym: offloaded) by Cornwall Council to a local community group that was clearly struggling with the upkeep. Complaints suggested the facilities had been unpleasant to use when open, and users begrudged paying 40p for the dubious privilege.

The purpose of this column isn’t to give anyone a kicking, but to examine the obvious conflict between basic human need and the issues of meeting it, which generally boil down to skill and cost. In straitened times, loos and car parks are the first things to be considered for the chop by councils (in our case, the car park was run by a private company which came under fire all by itself – that’s a different column).

There’s no legal requirement for councils to provide loos, and online database ToiletMap estimates a steady decline in availability of 40 per cent over 25 years. While some have closed, others have been passed on to smaller councils or community groups, but that doesn’t alter the fact that maintenance requires funds and hands prepared to don rubber gloves; and that at certain times of year, in a beautiful county dominated by tourism, usage increases exponentially.

And yet because toilets are considered a necessity, especially when one really needs to go, no one appreciates them as much as they should, or considers the practicalities behind their provision. People begrudge paying for them, whether through council tax or 40p on the door (let’s not kid ourselves anything costs a penny these days); and should conditions be less than sparkling, criticism is brutal and public.

Across the border in the Devon seaside town of Dawlish, Teignbridge District Council was considering closing its loos at a saving of £250,000 a year, leaving an annual 800,000 visitors crossing their legs. Following protests, it’s now looking to devolve them to parish councils, who don’t seem thrilled at the prospect.

Recent research revealed internet searches for ‘nearest toilet to me’ surging by 5,000% in soaring temperatures. Bathroom company Showers To You analysed ToiletMap’s database of 14,000 publicly available loos to reveal the UK locations with the longest distance between public toilets. Predictably, rural areas suffered most, with Scotland boasting the longest travel times, averaging a 15-minute drive or two and a half hours’ walk between facilities, in comparison with 19 minutes on foot in London. Cornwall didn’t fare brilliantly, ranked 249 out of 321, with an average travel time of a nine-minute drive between loo stops.

Showers To You founder Martin Smith is bang on when he describes the lack of loos as “a public health issue that needs greater attention”, adding: “It’s far more than convenience; it’s about preserving health, dignity and independence. The lack of easily available public toilets can severely limit people’s ability to stay active, travel or socialise—particularly the elderly, disabled individuals and women, who are more prone to bladder issues.”

According to Crohn's and Colitis UK, half a million people live with inflammatory bowel disease and nine out of 10 plan their journeys around toilet availability.

What’s the answer? In some towns, businesses have stepped in to fill the void. Camborne Town Council operates a Rest Room scheme, with cafes and pubs allowing public access to their facilities in exchange for an annual fee. I will forever be grateful to Café Soul for letting my mum use the smallest room one Sunday when the train station’s facilities were locked.

And in a reverse trend, Bodmin Town Council are looking into reopening Dennison Road car park toilets with a budget of up to £20,000.

I suggest planning trips carefully to reward those places willing to make the investment. ToiletMap (www.toiletmap.org.uk), which includes conveniences in shopping precincts and community centres, is a great place to start.