Disabled bingo fan's fury at state of toilets

Marion Sandilands says the toilets are not fit for dogs

The move came after a regular visitor to Burntisland complained bitterly about the state of the facilities in the town centre, which the council says have constantly been the target of misuse and vandalism.

Marion Sandilands from Bo’ness loves coming to the bingo when the shows are in town, but as a wheelchair user, she needs to use accessible conveniences.

But she was horrified last weekend when faced with conditions that were: “not fit for letting a dog into”. And this is the second year in succession that Mrs Sandilands has had cause to complain – last year her daughter Aileen was injured after she fell in the lavatories.

“I phoned Fife Council then and they promised they would get it sorted and that there would be someone taking care of the toilets this year,” she said.

That doesn’t seem to have happened, according to her, for last weekend when she visited the toilets they were “horrendous”.

Forced to use the lavatories, Mrs Sandilands found: “Faeces and blood on the floor, and the toilets all full,” and she immediately contacted the council again to complain.

“I was told that the toilets were cleaned twice a day,” she continued, “but it can’t be that if they are cleaned in the morning that they are filthy by 11 o’clock.”

However, Fife Council has said it is disappointed that a few people are misusing these facilities, and urge local people and visitors to use public conveniences responsibly.

Angus Thomson, senior manager (catering, cleaning & facilities management), said: “It is very unfortunate that some members of the public have found these facilities to be in a less than satisfactory condition. Fife Council has investigated this particular complaint.

“We continue to look at improvements to our cleaning regime, but also rely on the public using the facilities responsibly. We have increased the time spent cleaning these facilities, and cleaned at different times of the day. Fife Council works hard to keep public conveniences open and in good order for the use of residents and visitors.”