Brixton residents fed up with people peeing in the streets

By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter

Residents fed up with people urinating in the street have called for more public toilets.

People in Brixton say a lack of free-to-use loos in the centre of the town means people are relieving themselves in public.

They believe that new public toilets would help clean up the surrounding streets and make the area feel safer.

Staff at Brixton restaurant Refill Caribbean Cuisine said they were fed up with people peeing up the wall outside their kitchen.

They said the problem has got so bad they have put up a sign to deter people from using their kitchen wall as a urinal.

The number of free toilets available for members of the public in Lambeth has dropped from 21 in 2016 to just 13, according to the council’s own figures.

David Bridson, Labour councillor for Brixton Acre Lane, last month warned public urination was a “growing issue” in the area.

Labour-run Lambeth council has said it is placing temporary urinals in problem hotspots for public urination at weekends, and that anyone caught peeing in the street faced a £150 on-the-spot fine.

Lambeth Liberal Democrats are calling on the council to create a toilet strategy to address the lack of loos in the borough.

Cllr Donna Harris, leader of Lambeth’s Liberal Democrat group, said: “The concerning decline in the number of public toilets available in our borough shows the desperate need for a Lambeth toilet strategy.

“I hope the council will commit to developing a toilet strategy, as recommended by the London Assembly’s Health Committee, Age UK and the Toilet Manifesto for London group, and help reverse the decline in public toilets in Lambeth.”

Lambeth council has been contacted for comment.

Pictured top: A notice warns people against urinating outside Refill Caribbean Cuisine in Brixton (Picture: Robert Firth)