SIR, Perhaps I am only repeating the points so well expressed in the Gazette but it is so important that South Lakeland District Council and all other authorities promoting tourism in the Lake District should give priority to the serious matter of closing the visitors' toilets.

It is ludicrous to be spending thousands of pounds on promoting the grandeur of this beautiful part of the country only for the tourists on arrival to find a notice board greeting them with Sorry The Toilets Are Closed'.

It is beyond belief that anyone in authority is allowing this senseless situation to continue or else they must be indifferent to the seriousness of the situation.

The meetings that will follow to debate the question of funding must realise that this is not a problem to be left for the business people to solve who are already paying very high business rates but for the powers that be to reassess their own financial commitments.

If this toilet fiasco is allowed to continue and is not resolved by Easter I think everyone should be aware of the environmental consequences that could follow.

Eric Shaw

Grasmere

n SIR, A great deal of correspondence has been generated in your newspaper on the subject of the closure of public conveniences, and rightly so.

However, the saddest aspect of all is the total inability of our councillors and/or officers of the council to foresee the implications of their decisions.

How many other aspects of life in South Lakeland are blighted by this inability?

Perhaps, in future, we should persuade people blessed with common sense to represent us on our local council.

M.B. Drinkwater

Kentmere

n SIR, Am I alone in thinking we do not want visitors coming to our beautiful area? By closing our public toilets and by discouraging certain sporting activities we are really doing our best to make them feel unwelcome, even though they are vital to our economy (more than ever now).

Richard Rothwell

Bowness

February 4, 2003 16:30