AN ELDERLY woman unable to find open public toilets in Cardigan ended up relieving herself in the street, stunned town councillors have been told.

The incident was reported to town mayor Cllr Debra Griffiths by a person who, she said, was ‘practically begging us to have toilets open in town’.

“She told me about this old lady who had no option but to go on the pavement,” she told colleagues.

“She thought it was ridiculous there was no where for this poor lady to go – that could have been any one of us or a child.

“I know there have been incidents of toilets being vandalised, but couldn’t we still have them open in the daytime and closed in the night?

“It’s so important having accessible toilets in town or else people just won’t bother coming here.”

Cllr John Adams-Lewis said the Victoria Gardens toilets had formerly been open during the day but he thought they were now closed.

Cllr Clive Davies reminded members that community group 4CG had formerly run toilets at both Chancery lane and Feidr Fair, but having had to spend £10-15,000 on repairs due to vandalism had finally been forced to concede defeat.

However, he revealed that the possibility of re-opening the Chancery Lane block was now under consideration after a local business owner had offered to look after them.

“Feidr Fair, being so close to Finch Square and the Fairfield car park, should be open as well,” commented Cllr Adams-Lewis. “The situation is absolutely terrible.

“There was a Welsh Government scheme whereby business were paid £500 to allow members of the public to use their own facilities – it only lasted a year, but was a really good idea.”

Cllr Davies proposed writing to Welsh Government to see whether such a scheme could be re-introduced as it was ‘vitally important’ to town centres.

However, Cllr Catrin Miles said Cardiff Bay had cut the funding after it was found that the £500 did not cover the associated costs incurred by businesses who had taken up the scheme.

“Now with the Covid situation cleaning is even more important,” she added. “However, this is an important matter and there should be a provision in town.”