GETTING businesses in the borough to open up their toilets to the public is "inconvenient and impractical", the Green Party said this week.

The novel scheme was announced last week by Richmond upon Thames Council to address the shortage of loos in the borough.

The council claimed there was considerable interest from businesses in getting involved in the scheme. Firms would be paid a small annual sum in return for making their facilities available to the public.

The council's cabinet member for environment and planning, Cllr David Marlow, said: "Some large organisations have been providing toilet facilities for public use to some degree for a long time. Under this scheme, we are now expanding this to other shops and businesses and formalising the arrangements."

But Richmond and Twickenham Green Party believes this would mean the council passing the buck to business for services which ought to be provided by the local authority. They fear the lack of toilets will lead to more fouling in streets and parks.

Green spokeswoman Judy Maciejowska said: "A civilised society should always provide basic toilet facilities for its residents and visitors alike. The idea that mothers with small children, the elderly, the disabled or the inebriated should battle their way into shops and restaurants to use their loos is preposterous. Local people don't want this and neither do local businesses. It's high time that Tony Arbour and his Tory cabinet started listening to their voters or they will bear the consequences."

The Green Party recommended last year obtaining sponsorship from pubs and businesses in exchange for advertising in the public conveniences. They say the council gave no response to this suggestion.

Greens are now concerned to know what is planned for the existing lavatory buildings across the borough, many of these are conveniently situated in parks or town centres.

Ms Maciejowska asked: "Is the council planning to sell them for short-term gain, like so many of our buildings and car parks going into Tony Arbour's jumble sale?"

The Green Party is running a London-wide campaign to secure more public toilets, having written a report into the state of public conveniences. This reveals that the number of public toilets in London open for over 12 hours a day has almost halved in the last ten years.

There is no statutory obligation on local authorities to provide toilets.

The pressure group Capital Transport Campaign is also lobbying for more toilets on trains and railway stations. Transport minister Tony McNulty recently said the government has no plans to force train operators to provide such facilities. Provision of toilets is left entirely to the companies' discretion.