A Labour council in Cambridge has installed squat toilets said to be favoured by international visitors and are charging users £1 per visit.
The public toilets – which include three ‘squat-style flushing toilets’ – on Silver Street, opposite Queens’ College at the University of Cambridge, cost Cambridge City Council £1million to build.
They replaced a 1980s block that was repeatedly flooded by the River Cam, which runs next to it.
The council said the style of toilet was ‘preferred by some international visitors’.
Locals have since criticised the ‘crazy’ £1 charge to use the toilets, which opened last month.
Heather Boyd, from the nearby village of Orwell, told the BBC: ‘I certainly think if I’m going to spend £1, I’m not going to squat as well. That is absolutely crazy.’
‘I’d much rather they built just a normal set of toilets and charged nothing, than one really slick one and charged a pound,’ the 60-year-old added.
Meanwhile, one resident took to social media, writing: ‘My grandmother’s great achievement as a member of the London Townswomen’s Guild (not a jam and Jerusalem organisation) was to get the penny in the slot fee for Ladies loos abolished.
Squat toilets have been installed by a Labour council in Cambridge within new facilities that cost £1million to build
The new block charges visitors £1 per visit to access the new public toilets
‘Her lifetime achievement gone in one pound a pee.’
The entry fee funds the cleaning, maintenance and staffing of the facilities, the council said.
It is also claimed the charge would ‘discourage misuse’ of the facilities, which were designed by award-winning architects.
Katie Thornburrow, the Labour Cambridge city council leader, said: ‘I think the general consensus was that if we’re going to provide toilets in Cambridge, which is not a statutory service but something we want to support, they need to be clean and safe for people to go to.’
‘We also felt it appropriate to ask visitors to support the upkeep of these facilities by paying £1, a practice which is common in many other tourist destinations,’ she added.
‘The £1 charge will help us to keep the toilets clean without relying on council taxpayers to fund these facilities.’
Squat toilets are understood to be more hygienic as skin does not come in contact with a seat.
They are common across large parts of Asia, the Middle East and parts of Southern and Eastern Europe.
The public toilets sit on Silver Street, opposite Queens’ College at the University of Cambridge
The toilets also sit near the Mathematical Bridge, an 18th-century wooden footbridge, which is one of the city’s top tourist spots.
Around 8 million people visit Cambridge each year, or more than 22,000 a day, according to Visit Cambridge.
Many of whom flock to visit the University of Cambridge, home to around 25,000 students.
Cambridge City Council has been contacted.
