BUSHES are being trampled and peed on – and worse! – as those desperate to spend a penny find the Royal Avenue Garden loos locked from 6pm.
The toilets are owned by Dartmouth Town Council who said they would open the loos later if they could find temporary staff to clean them.
This week the judges of South West in Bloom visited and Dartmouth Green Partnerships volunteers had to explain the situation.
Chairman Stevie Rogers said: “We’re not talking one or two people but lots of people getting caught short because the loos are locked. Our community garden is next to the closed gents’ toilets, so our garden is now the alternative toilet.
“Behind our shed is a favourite but amongst the bushes too, where they tread everything down to get behind the largest bushes.
“Some of our bed labels have been stood on and broken too.
The same may well be happening in Royal Avenue Gardens too, we just happen to be the nearest green space.”
Stevie said the problem became more apparent last week when the hot weather meant volunteers were working on the gardens earlier in the day.
She said: “The smell and worse has been awful.
“We’ve had to hose the area down constantly. This is fast becoming a health hazard and we may have to report it directly to Environmental Health.
“There’s been a big push for visitors to the town this year, but we have to have the back-up facilities for them.
“The council needs to get their act together and could’ve stepped up quickly – maybe put in a couple of portaloos which can be ordered in hours – it depends how urgent they consider urgent.
“One of the South West in Bloom judge’s comments was ‘do people not need the loo after 6pm?’”
Stevie contacted Dartmouth Town Council, suggesting the toilets are kept open later or portaloos are brought in for the summer season.
Town Clerk Charlie Pritchard-Williams said: “We are onto this but can’t open toilets – including portaloos – without staff to clean them and we’re having real trouble recruiting staff.
“At this point we cannot get any joy from our usual temping agencies.
“This is not unusual, everywhere – supermarkets, restaurants, pubs, shops – are finding it hard to recruit, people are either self-isolating or they simply don’t want to work.
“We’ve been trying to find staff all week and speaking to our daytime cleaner to work extra hours.
“I will shortly be putting a request out on our social media for anyone interested in a part time temporary position, working evenings to enable to toilets to remain clean and open until 6pm.
“If anyone would like to step forward and help then please do contact us.”
Charlie said the toilets have only been opened after 6pm during regatta, since the town council took them over from South Hams Council in July 2018. She said South Hams also locked them in the evenings after problems with vandalism.
She added: “I don’t fully understand why this year has been such a problem – maybe more visitors and less pubs and restaurants letting people use their facilities.
“There are a couple of 24-hour toilets at Coronation Park and we did have a sign directing people there which disappeared.
“We’ll be putting a sign back up.
“We’re looking at opening the Royal Avenue Gardens toilets later in the evening for the summer season but desperately need cleaners to enable us to do this.”