ATTENDANTS say they face a daily battle of vigilance and abuse keeping drug addicts out of public toilets.

A toilet attendant manning a seafront public toilet in Brighton told of the difficulties coping with discarded needles, blood spillages and overdoses.

It comes after The Argus revealed the scale of the discarded needle problem, with more than one a day picked up from city streets, parks and public toilets.

Abigail Cater, whose daughter Indie-Rae, three, almost sat on a needle in The Level toilets earlier this month, has urged the council to have attendants working daily.

But the city council said the manning of The Level toilets on bank holidays and weekends will continue when the contract transfers from Wettons to Healthmatic later this week.

An official said there were no current plans to increase the level of attendance but the situation was constantly reviewed. Benefits from the contract transfer include an immediate increase in staff pay meaning by September workers will be paid the Brighton Living Wage of £8.25 per hour – a ten per cent increase.

It will also see a combined investment of £1.1 million by Healthmatic and the council to improve toilet facilities.

Ms Cater received an apology from the council and was given assurances the new contractor had been appointed because of its expertise in clearing needles.

A Wettons employee working on the seafront said: “I am stationed here six days a week, but there is no one at The Level on school days. There should be someone there. They do rounds every three or four hours at The Level and one time this week they picked up 20 needles and cleaned blood off the walls.

“Every day they come in. I try and challenge them. I get a lot of abuse. I have had to throw some out. It’s horrible.”

A council spokesman said attendants and mobile cleaners were encouraged to report incidents immediately allowing resources to be placed strategically at hotspots. He added: “The new contractor is holding meetings with staff who will undertake training on anti-social behaviour including drug related activities. We are confident the new contract will offer a much-improved service.”