ALMOST 1,000 people signed a petition at the weekend urging Newport council to reopen public toilets that were closed as part of budget cuts last month.

Traders vowed to start a campaign last week after being plagued by shoppers wanting to use their toilets since the ones in Austin Friars closed on April 1. Now after just two days collecting signatures on Friday and Saturday (APRIL 30 and MAY 1), 932 people have pledged their support.

Sue Williams, 55, who runs the nearby Elbow Rooms hair salon and started the campaign, said: “It’s absolutely overwhelming. The frustration and anger people feel is obvious, they just feel short changed.

“It’s what the people of Newport want that matters, not the council.”

Ms Williams said many people commented the Austin Friars toilets were always kept to a high standard and lots said they would be happy to pay a small sum of money to use them if they were reopened.

She said some people were not aware the closure was permanent and many commented that they didn’t like using the bus station toilets as they were not as clean and were often closed.

As previously reported, Ms Williams said she had up to five people a day asking to use her toilets and many customers complained they had seen people urinating in derelict shop doorways since the toilets were closed.

The decision to shut the toilets was part of the authority's annual budget review, which said they were only accessible by steep steps and were therefore unsuitable for some disabled and elderly people.

A spokeswoman for the council said alternative facilities were available in the bus station, from 8am until 6pm daily and Sundays from 8am to 4pm.

* Public toilets are open in the Kingsway shopping centre.