Shopkeepers and their customers are up in arms after public toilets on one of the Lake District's busiest car parks were mothballed.

Bowness traders say they are doubly angry because not only has South Lakeland District Council shut the toilets at Glebe Road car park without notifying them, they say but it has also increased the parking fees.

One trader described the closure of the loos as "the most senseless act that SLDC has done so far".

John Sherran, owner of Quays Outdoor Leisure at Glebe Road, said: "The car park prices have gone up considerably and everybody round here is now totally up in arms because they've closed the disabled toilet and the main toilets on probably the most expensive car park in the Lake District.

"We hold the keys to the disabled toilet and we get on average, certainly in summer, one minibus or small coach a day trying to use those toilets. Now they've just closed them."

He added: "Nobody had the courtesy to tell us."

Windermere Aquatic director Grahame Armer described the closure of the loos as "abysmal". He said people paying £4 to park at Glebe Road would expect to find decent facilities, and he was particularly unhappy about the impact on disabled people.

Sue Fixter, manager of Pitlochry knitwear store at Bowness Bay, said a lot of customers were "disgruntled" about the toilet closure. She said there were other public loos nearby at the TIC, but she was aware some people had been using toilets in pubs and cafes, which was not fair on those businesses.

David Boyer, managing director of Style Trading Limited, told the Gazette: "It's logical in my view that a toilet would be located at a car park so, without labouring the situation, it follows that to me it's the most senseless act that SLDC have done so far."

As previously reported in the Gazette, five public loos in Windermere and Bowness were threatened with closure on April 1 as part of SLDC's cost-cutting policy. In a deal agreed with Windermere Parish Council, the Glebe Road toilets were mothballed to save money and keep the others open.

SLDC contract services manager Chris Fidler told the Gazette it was too early to say how long the toilets would be closed, but views received would be taken into consideration during any future negotiations.

Mr Fidler said one trader had contacted him, and he had provided him with a letter explaining the closure. The letter was laminated so the trader could show it to any customers who tackled him.

Mr Fidler said the closure of toilets in any location would always have an initial impact. He pointed out that there were public toilets, including a disabled loo, 250 yards away next to the TIC. The Braithwaite Fold loos were also a similar distance away.

Mr Fidler apologised for the lack of notification to traders about the closure.

Morris Brundrett, SLDC public services manager, explained the parking fees at Glebe Road were put up as part of a general review of fees and charges. He said the charges - £4 for four hours and £5 for nine hours reflected the huge demand for parking spaces there, particularly in summer.

Meanwhile, SLDC has ordered a credit card swipe machine for the Glebe Road car park in response to traders' concerns about large numbers of people asking them for change. Mr Brundrett said there had been some technical issues to overcome, but he hoped the new ticket machine would be in place "before very long".

April 25, 2003 11:00