Upset over hunt for Trowbridge disabled toilet keys

4:00pm Thursday 14th March 2013 in Latest News By Craig Jones

A Trowbridge shopper who has emphysema and arthritis is frustrated that she has to find a member of staff to open The Shires’ disabled toilets for her.

Mary Levy, 72, of Field Close, Westbury, doesn’t understand why when she wants to use the facilities at the centre she has to find someone to let her in.

Mrs Levy, who is registered disabled, said: “I have to walk around for quite a while trying to find someone to open the door for me and by the time I find someone I usually feel quite poorly.

“It takes all my strength to walk around and it’s an awkward thing to have to ask and makes me feel quite silly, I don’t want to make a fuss, but I just don’t know why they lock them.”

Management at The Shires Shopping Centre said that they have been part of the Radar National Key Scheme – which sees facilities looked after and provides keys for disabled people to access certain public toilets – for around 10 years.

The key scheme, launched around 30 years ago, provides access to 9,000 disabled toilets across the country.

The Shires manager, Sarah-Louise Moore, said: “The scheme ensures genuine users of the toilets are safe in the knowledge that they have clean and well equipped facilities and that they are not being used by those capable of using the other toilets.”

Miss Moore apologised that Mrs Levy wasn’t aware of the situation with the toilets and said that management, security staff and cleaners all carry keys, so anyone seeking access to the facilities could contact them.

For more information about the Radar National Key Scheme, visit www. radar.org.uk

Comments(14)

cght36 says...
5:01pm Thu 14 Mar 13

Ive never seen a member of staff walking round the Shires, this poor woman shouldnt have to walk around looking for staff, whey dont they have a system where the person can contact someone from where the toilets are, ie a internal phone or some kind of alarm. Then the key holder walks to them?? not rocket science is it!!

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beetawix says...
5:29pm Thu 14 Mar 13

Why not give regular users of this amenity their own key.

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melkshamwizard says...
5:42pm Thu 14 Mar 13

beetawix wrote:
Why not give regular users of this amenity their own key.
read thereort again disabled people an have one they only have to ask, cght
ood point

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Jungleist says...
5:32pm Fri 15 Mar 13

Not quite sure what the Wizard from Melksham is saying but I believe there is a National Key Scheme were disabled people can have their own key and get access to these loos whenever they like and so not have to find any staff to let them them in.

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beetawix says...
8:48pm Fri 15 Mar 13

melkshamwizard wrote:
beetawix wrote:
Why not give regular users of this amenity their own key.
read thereort again disabled people an have one they only have to ask, cght
ood point
read it a few times.
where does it say they can request a key to hold for themselves, in the article

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Mrs Donnyfly says...
2:42am Sat 16 Mar 13

"Trowbridge shopper" ...is that the best way of defining this woman that the WT could come up with?

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Jhgough says...
9:43am Sat 16 Mar 13

Radar key Scheme
http://www.radar-sho
p.org.uk/Detail.aspx
?id=0
You can also buy the keys at any Tourist information centre

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notscot says...
11:57am Sat 16 Mar 13

Hunting down the staff who have the keys? BUYING a key?
Oh for goodness sake!!
Open the darn doors. Do we make the able-bodied hunt for or provide their own keys\/1 No - we don't. And I wonder just howe much fuss would be kicked up if we did\/
Sounds like a case for discrimination to me - or ruddy stupidity on the part of some jumped-up fool making life difficult for a few - just because they can.
Not been to many backward shopping precincts lately - can't be many left. Hopefully.

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Mrs Donnyfly says...
10:10am Sun 17 Mar 13

Well said notscot. There seems to be a sense of paranoia that an able-bodied person might use a disabled toilet. How awful that would be!

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frankie007 says...
10:12am Mon 18 Mar 13

The daft system was designed so that only disabled people would use the facility.

Where it really falls down is that anybody can buy a key online or at the information centre without providing any evidence of disability.

Far too simple to provide one with a blue badge.

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yeold6x says...
10:30pm Tue 19 Mar 13

Mrs. Donneyfly it would surprise you the amount of people that do use disabled toilets in shopping centres and alike and as there is usually only one. Having to wait whilst an able bodied person uses the facility is not acceptable as they can easily use a normal toillet and stand after use without difficulty. The apparatus in the disabled toilet is there for a purpose and not just for show. So yes it is awful fo you able bodied people to use the disabled toilet. I suspect that you think that it is acceptable to park in a disabled bay and the only reason you might not is the fact that you would get a ticket, not becasue you would be impeding a disabled person!!

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notscot says...
6:26am Wed 20 Mar 13

yeold6x wrote:
Mrs. Donneyfly it would surprise you the amount of people that do use disabled toilets in shopping centres and alike and as there is usually only one. Having to wait whilst an able bodied person uses the facility is not acceptable as they can easily use a normal toillet and stand after use without difficulty. The apparatus in the disabled toilet is there for a purpose and not just for show. So yes it is awful fo you able bodied people to use the disabled toilet. I suspect that you think that it is acceptable to park in a disabled bay and the only reason you might not is the fact that you would get a ticket, not becasue you would be impeding a disabled person!!
Now you're being daft. No - it isn't acceptable for an able bodied person to use adisabled parking bay, and no - it isn't acceptable to say that a toilet should be kept for the exclusive use of the disabled.
I have NEVER seen a queue of disabled people waiting outside a toilet built for the EASE OF USE of the disabled.
And I have only ever seen those toilets used by the able-bodied when the general toilets are closed or the queue is ridiculously long.

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Highways68 says...
8:01am Wed 20 Mar 13

notscot wrote:
Hunting down the staff who have the keys? BUYING a key? Oh for goodness sake!! Open the darn doors. Do we make the able-bodied hunt for or provide their own keys\/1 No - we don't. And I wonder just howe much fuss would be kicked up if we did\/ Sounds like a case for discrimination to me - or ruddy stupidity on the part of some jumped-up fool making life difficult for a few - just because they can. Not been to many backward shopping precincts lately - can't be many left. Hopefully.
Sounds like descrimination to me too, a toilet for disabled only, why can't everyone use it???

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notscot says...
1:30pm Wed 20 Mar 13

Highways68 wrote:
notscot wrote: Hunting down the staff who have the keys? BUYING a key? Oh for goodness sake!! Open the darn doors. Do we make the able-bodied hunt for or provide their own keys\/1 No - we don't. And I wonder just howe much fuss would be kicked up if we did\/ Sounds like a case for discrimination to me - or ruddy stupidity on the part of some jumped-up fool making life difficult for a few - just because they can. Not been to many backward shopping precincts lately - can't be many left. Hopefully.
Sounds like descrimination to me too, a toilet for disabled only, why can't everyone use it???
I wonder - if the able-bodied toilets were locked and ONLY the able-bodied were allowed the key to use them....?

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