I have received a few comments about my one-man campaign to get the toilets in our local establishments open for general access and not just ‘for customer use only’, as the signs often instruct.

It seems that some people don’t agree with me. When I say some people, I mean the guy who runs a petrol station in a nearby town.

I enquired as to what he thought the minimum amount of money spent would qualify me a customer. He wasn’t sure and didn’t seem impressed when I asked if I could use the loo if I bought a packet of chewing gum.

I pointed out that the sign aimed at welcoming us into the garage included the word ‘services’ and that this surely indicated that there was more available than a tank of fuel.

This got me thinking about extending my campaign to include demanding that the use of the word ‘services’ should indicate the toilets are available to use free of charge.

If successful, service stations up and down the land would have to re-open locked toilets so that weary travellers can stop and find relief.

Of course, there are some establishments that still offer such facilities, but they are either used as extra stock room space or they are outside, meaning you have to collect a key connected to an enormous piece of wood in order to gain access.

Perhaps the main problem is that public toilets appear to have been disappearing at an alarming rate.

Back in the days of drinking fountains and park paddling pools, there seemed to be no shortage of places to spend a penny. Not that I am suggesting that we actually did this in the drinking fountains and paddling pools.

Today, the drinking fountains have dried up, the pools have been filled in to meet with health and safety requirements, and when you find a public lavatory, it often costs you 20p.

Toilet problems are not confined to this country. During the recent World Cup, mortgage advisor Pavlos Joseph found himself in the England team dressing room after getting lost searching for a loo.

He burst in after the disappointing 0-0 draw with Algeria and exclaimed, “You are a disgrace,” to the startled footballers.

Whether or not he was referring to the poor quality of their performance or the condition in which they had left the toilets, we will never know.

What seems sure is that there wasn’t a sign saying ‘for customer use only’. It’s a good job for the multi-millionaire sportsmen that the sign didn’t read ‘for winning team use only’.