Shoppers are waging a campaign to flush out charges at a
shopping centre's toilets.

Chatham's Pentagon Centre has introduced a 20p fee for anyone needing to spend a penny at its modernised loos, which opened last month.

But the charge for answering a call of nature at the revamped

facilities has been branded a "disgrace".

As reported by the Messenger in June, it was introduced to deter
vandals and drug users from the new-look toilets - upgraded
with a £200,000 government grant.

Peter Nassan, of the Medway Pensioners Forum, said: "This is a
disgrace and unfair to pensioners and people with bowel problems
and people with weak bladders. It is bad enough having to pay
parking charges to go to the town, but now we have to pay toilet
charges as well."

Ruth Joslin said she was shocked to be asked to pay to use the
toilets when she visited the centre with her six-year-old
daughter.

She said: "There wasn't a huge change - the hand dryers are so
high that I still have to precariously balance my daughter on the
sink to dry her hands."

Sandra Fowler, of New Road, Chatham, said: "They have received a
lick of paint, a re-coated floor, new toilet roll and soap
dispensers. But surely the very old, stained and, in some cases,
cracked washbasins could have been replaced?"

The toilets were council-owned toilets until they were handed
over to the centre's management a year ago, when bosses were given
£200,000 from the Homes and Communities Agency to give them a
facelift.

A Medway Council spokesman said: "The Pentagon Centre are keen
to maintain their toilets to the highest possible standard and to
deter the anti-social elements who used to use them for undesirable
activities.

"In order to help them do this, they have chosen to levy a small
charge and to place barriers at the entrance to the toilets."