By ROBERT SUTCLIFFE

A campaigning resident claims Bingley's toilet facilities are going down the pan and need to freshen up fast if the town is not to lose valuable tourists.

Margaret Thompson was so fed up with the state of the town's only public toilet - a Superloo in Waterloo Road - she has gathered almost 400 signatures demanding action.

The Gilstead 61-year-old decided to act when she was unable to use the loo because it had been vandalised.

She said: "I had to go in the Harvesters pub which I don't like doing. I don't go into pubs unless I am

with my husband. The Superloo is disgusting and elderly people are frightened to use it. People don't use it properly and older folk are worried about the doors opening while they are using it. I've had quite a few problems with it."

She added: "I've lived in Bingley for 42 years and it used to be lovely but now it is getting me down. People forget about us in Bingley."

Philip Smith, chairman of the Better Bingley Campaign, a long-time critic of the lack of toilet provision in the town, said: "After previous campaigning the town received a second hand Superloo. That was not what was expected and is not the best solution for a town which is striving to improve its image and encourage tourism." But Councillor Keith Thomson, responsible for waste management and cleansing on Bradford Council, said of the Bingley Superloo:

"Sometimes it is abused but it is not out of action as much as the one in Queensbury.

"I understand that some people are wary of them but it is a question of what people are prepared to pay for.

"In the 1920s we talked of spending a penny, but these days it would be more like 50 pence.

"If people accepted that sort of figure to go to the toilet we could provide considerably more."

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