Overview

I used the public accessible toilet on Torquay's sea front. I was not impressed.

Transport & Parking

The toilets are on the sea front, about a 10 minute level walk from Torquay Train Station and several bus numbers stop along the sea front.

Access

There is a ramp to the accessible toilet.

Toilets

The toilet was spacious and had grab rails. The emergency button was located above the grab rail and next to the toilet holder, see photo. How a disabled person on the floor would be able to stretch over and reach the button is beyond me. The floor was wet and slippery and I didn't feel safe using my crutch. The accessible toilet no longer uses a radar key. If you want to use the toilet you can only do so if you pay 30p via a contactless card. My concern is not everyone has a contactless card, particularly older people and older children, if they are disabled they may be prevented from accessing toilet provision. The Torbay Council website says "RADAR keys We no longer use RADAR keys in our toilets. Unfortunately, the RADAR key scheme is not regulated and a key can be purchased by anyone for less than £2. This has resulted in many of our toilets becoming vandalised or a target for anti-social behaviour. To keep all of our toilets in a clean and a ‘home from home’ environment we have a fee paying system." https://www.torbay.gov.uk/leisure-sports-and-community/toilets/ I feel that Torbay Council's comments are meaningless as anyone who can pay 30p or have the door kept open for them can access an accessible toilet. The state of the toilet floor and the location of the emergency button are not safe for disabled people.

Staff

No staff around.

Anything else you wish to tell us?

I was thankful I had a hotel on Torquay’s Sea Front so I didn’t need to visit the public toilets again. I think Torbay Council should rethink their removal of RADAR keys, as most disabled people have their own key. There are many disabilities which necessitate the use of an accessible toilet, and accessible toilets are few and far between, for example in Torquay there are many restaurants and cafes which don't offer accessible toilets for their customers, so these customers either have to access public accessible toilets, as I did during my visit, limit their fluid until they can return home/ to their holiday accommodation, or risk possibly wetting or soiling themselves if they haven't got a contactless card on them. I believe that Torbay Council as part of their duty to provide Reasonable Adjustments under the Equality Act should provide RADAR key accessible toilets for disabled people.

Photos