A sharp decrease in the number of public toilets in the UK is denying elderly and disabled people a vital human right, campaigners say.
Figures from the British Toilet Association show 1,700 toilets have closed across the UK over the past decade, in cuts blamed on tightened local authority budgets.
Raymond Martin, the association's managing director, told The Times the Government needs to introduce legislation forcing councils to provide enough facilities for disabled people or tourists.
He told the paper: "They are valuable to everyday life.
"If the government wants us to live healthily and enjoy our green spaces and get off our sofas and out walking in open spaces, we have to have the infrastructure and part of that is having public toilets.
"People will use alleyways, railway tracks, street defecation, as more toilets close down."
Caroline Abrahams, charity director for Age UK, warned older people were more likely to stay at home without the facilities.
She told the paper: "For an older person to have their life restricted in this way can have serious consequences for their self-confidence and their capacity to remain part of the community."
According to Freedom of Information requests from the BBC, Wandsworth borough doesn't have a single council-run loo, something the local authority firmly denies.
A Wandsworth council spokesman said: “We do provide public toilets in Battersea Park, Tooting Common, Wandsworth Common, in all of our town centres and several other busy locations across the borough.”
A spokesman for the Local Government Association told the BBC councils were running community toilet schemes at shops, bars and restaurants to make up the shortfall as they had less to spend on community services.
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