The Towns And Cities With The Most Complained About Public Toilets

If the past couple of years has taught us anything, it's the importance of cleanliness and hygiene. The bathroom is one of the most important rooms of the house to keep clean and tidy, with lots of germs and bacteria living in our toilets and sinks.

While it's essential to keep our bathrooms and toilets clean at home, we also expect the toilets where we spend a penny out in public to be kept clean too.

As the bathroom experts, we at AQVA wanted to find out more about the public toilets around the UK to discover just how clean they are. By conducting Freedom of Information Act requests to 108 councils, we were able to find out which councils have received the most complaints regarding the cleanliness of public toilets during 2021.

It should be noted that some councils were unable to provide data due to a number of reasons such as not having the information recorded in an easily accessible way.

The cities with the dirtiest public toilets

Of the 108 councils that we contacted, 86 councils responded in some capacity in the time frame given. While some councils do not record complaints or do not hold the information requested, we found that 33 councils responded saying that they had indeed received complaints during 2021. Many more councils responded to say that they did not receive any complaints during the 12-month period.

Blackpool - 39 complaints

Taking the unfortunate top spot is Blackpool where 39 complaints were registered regarding the cleanliness of public toilets during 2021.

As a seaside resort, Blackpool attracts a huge number of tourists throughout the year, presenting the need for plenty of public toilets to be available. In fact, the most complained about toilets at the Central Drive Car Park are just a stone's throw from the beach.

Bristol - 19 complaints

Bristol is known for its thriving arts scene, but when it comes to public toilets, the city leaves something to be desired. With 19 complaints in 12 months, Bristol sits in second place amongst the cities with the dirtiest public toilets, with the toilets at Canford Park raking in the most complaints overall.

Swansea - 18 complaints

Heading into Wales, we round out our top three with the city of Swansea. As another coastal city, Swansea attracts plenty of tourists, many of which find that nature calls, but the public toilets aren't up to scratch. During the course of 2021, 18 complaints were lodged by members of the public regarding the cleanliness of public toilets in the area, with the largest amount of complaints being in reference to the facilities at Rhossili.

The cities with no complaints

While there were a number of cities with multiple complaints about the cleanliness of the public toilets, we also discovered that 27 of the councils that responded within the time frame given to them had recorded no complaints about the hygiene of their public toilets. These councils are listed in full below:

• Barking and Dagenham Council
• Blackburn with Darwen Council
• Brent Borough Council
• City of Wolverhampton Council
• Common Council of City of London
• Crawley Borough Council
• Dundee City Council
• Enfield Council
• Glasgow City Council
• Hillingdon Borough Council
• Hounslow Borough Council
• Hull City Council
• Ipswich Borough Council
• Leeds City Council
• Leicester City Council
• London Borough of Barnet Council
• Merton Borough Council
• Newham Borough Council
• Newport City Council
• North Northamptonshire Council
• Peterborough City Council
• Portsmouth City Council
• Preston City Council
• Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council
• Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
• Sutton Borough Council
• Woking Borough Council

The importance of a clean bathroom

We all know that it's important to keep a clean bathroom, but do you know exactly why it is so important?

According to a 2015 American Society for Microbiology Journal research article, more than 77,000 distinct types of bacteria and viruses were discovered in 602 samples taken from the floors, toilet seats, and soap dispensers in four public toilet facilities. While not every single type of bacteria is going to be harmful to the health of those using those toilets, there is still a level of risk to health, particularly when public toilets are not cleaned regularly or thoroughly.

When using the toilet, our hands come into contact with toilet flushes, taps, door handles, and plenty of other areas. The danger presents itself when we then touch our own face or take the hand of someone else before we have been able to thoroughly wash our hands.

While we can't necessarily control the cleanliness of the public toilets we may use, we can make sure to wash our hands thoroughly with soap and carry our own hand sanitizer to use whenever necessary.

Methodology:

We submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to 108 UK councils, asking for information for the calendar year of 2021. We asked for "the number of complaints registered by members of the public regarding the cleanliness of public toilets", as well as the number of public toilets provided by the council and the toilets which received the most complaints regarding cleanliness.

The request was submitted on 14th January 2022 and full data was taken from the responses on 14th February 2022, so any responses submitted after this date were not included.

It should be noted that some councils were unable to provide data due to a number of reasons such as not having the information recorded in an easily accessible way.