'Spend some more pennies on WC'

A DISGUSTED Portishead resident has likened public conveniences in the town to those in developing countries.At a recent meeting of Portishead Town Council, Ken Smith, of Down Road, praised the 'spotlessly clean' public conveniences in Clevedon, which also boast piped music.But he went on to say that the ones in Portishead's Wyndham Way were like 'Third World toilets' and added: "Our neighbouring town, Clevedon, provides toilets of a high quality. Why can't Portishead have a similar ones?"Portishead Town Council's chairman, Cllr Jean Lord, had already received two other complaints about the state of the public conveniences. One of them was from a resident who forwarded a copy of North Somerset Council's Life magazine to her which reported that the district had won eight Loo of the Year awards.Recognising that the toilets were 'a long way from that standard', Cllr Lord had asked that the matter be discussed at the meeting.At her suggestion, councillors agreed to inspect the toilets themselves and to let Cllr Lord know whether they felt pressure should be put on North Somerset Council to improve them.After the meeting, Cllr Lord said: "I had a look at the toilets myself on the day of the meeting."They were unwelcoming, very cold and some of the tiles were missing, although they were clean and didn't smell."Millions of pounds are being spent building new homes in Portishead, so it seems reasonable that there should also be decent public toilets where residents and visitors can spend a penny."A spokesman for North Somerset Council said: "About three years ago, North Somerset Council and Portishead Town Council spent £10,000 to completely refurbish the toilets in Wyndham Way."If the town council wishes to approach us with any issues regarding the toilets, we'll investigate the matter.