Urgent call for action over public inconveniences

Never one to be caught short on that kind of invitation, Angus MacDonald MP for Inverness, Skye and West Ross-shire, incorporating Skye, Caol and Mallaig and Fort William and Ardnamurchan, has his own solution.

"Introduce vandal proof toilets with a floor to ceiling turnstile and charge £1 to use them. The community owned conveniences in Broadford on Skye is the role model," he suggested.

Mr MacDonald is calling on the council to take urgent action on the issue which he believes will it Highland tourism hard.

"It is like they don’t care whether a 70 year old lady getting off a bus is desperate or not," he added.

"But the desperate woman, her travelling companions and the driver all tell people that Fort William is a dump and that the public toilets are never open.

"People avoid the town and businesses, who pay huge business rates, suffer."

"Of course we are horrified that people would do this in the first place but almost as shocking to me is why doesn’t the Highland Council fix them right away?"

"What is the message being sent out to visitors when spending a penny is such a challenge."

Mr MacDonald was further incensed when during the recent Six Day Trials someone "kindly" put up a sign saying "use the Highland Cinema toilets" which resulted in a queue of unhappy customers, bikers and a nightmare for staff.

"One unhappy business owner suggested we put up a sign directing the public to the council offices with the mobile number of the ward manager," he said.

"I have written to the Chief Executive of the Highland Council (who has a £650m budget) about this and await a reply.

"I have also asked if the CCTV overlooking the entrance has been checked and police asked to visit the parents of the miscreants."

"We are being let down by our public bodies here. The Highland Council is too big and its bosses too far away.

"If we had an elected Mayor or Provost who paraded the town, and had a local budget this would have been remedied right away."

Lochaber Area Chair, Cllr Kate Willis is also concerned about the ongoing vandalism of the public toilets.

"In addition to costing the Council considerable expense to regularly repair the damage, it is causing an unnecessary burden on High Street businesses whose toilets are being used by the public," she told us.

"Previous overnight closure of the Viewforth toilets reduced the incidences of vandalism and I would urge any businesses on the High Street who think they might be able to help with evening closures of the Viewforth toilets to contact myself ( kate.willis.cllr@highland.gov.uk) or the Council."