CITY Hall is preparing to make a dramatic U-turn and introduce “steep” charges to nearly ten public conveniences across the West End.
Just months after the council insisted it would never bring in fees for public toilets in the heart of the West End council officers have drafted plans for a 50p charge for nine conveniences.
And even Councillor Alan Bradley, Westminster cabinet member for street environment, yesterday (Thursday) admitted the charges were “a bit steep”.
But he insisted that he would rather introduce charges than close toilets down.
It is illegal for local authorities to charge for its public toilet provision.
But Westminster Council managed to introduce charges to three toilets around Parliament Square in January by exploiting a loop hole in the law by farming out management of the toilets to a private company, Carlisle Facilities Services.
At the time the council said they would never “charge in areas where there are people drinking”.

FOR more than 60 years Norman Balon has come to Soho every day to work in his Greek Street pub.
But now the landlord and owner of the Coach and Horses, famously described as the “rudest landlord in London”, is preparing to sell up and retire to a quieter life.
And he blames age and Westminster Council policy for his decision.
Mr Balon, who lives in Golders Green, first arrived at the pub on February 1 1943, aged 16 years and one month, and began by helping his parents Jack and Annie run the business. It has been the only job he has had in his life.
In an essay for a recently published book, The Time of Your Life, Mr Balon described what made a good pub.
He wrote: “Me. A pub is a reflection of a landlord’s personality. I believe that by and large you should have people in there that you could talk to at home.
“So I can’t stand bores. I can’t stand people who annoy me.”