On a nice sunny day last week I took a trip To the Lanes in Brighton. It was great seeing all the people sitting outside eating and drinking and enjoying themselves especially as we were approaching the end of September. As I only have partial use in my legs I can't walk very far and was glad to sit down in one of the many coffee shops to rest my legs and have a drink.

After having my second Coffee I wanted to do what many of us want to do after a couple of drinks but to my bitter disappointment the toilets were down two flights of steep stairs which I couldn't manage. As There Are no Public Toilets in the Lanes my only solution was to go into an adjacent pub where they had a level toilet which after using, of course, I was obliged to have another drink in that place – something a bit stronger than coffee of course. This may sound like a poor excuse for going to the boozer but’s it is not.

Now I understand that in conservation such as the Lanes it would be difficult to find somewhere to put a public toilet and the Council would be quick to tell you that there is one in the Pavilion Gardens. For Elderly and Disabled People, however, that's a long way away especially if you are desperate.

The law obliges cafes, restaurants and pubs to provide a toilet on ground floor level for those who can't manage the stairs. However, some of these establishments argue there is just not enough room to provide such a facility and whilst this is true of many of them there are others for which this is only an excuse for not meeting their legal obligations.

It was interesting to see that Wetherspoon's at their restaurant in North Street have put a plaque on the outside of the building to say that they cannot provide access for the disabled as the building is listed and this would mean making alterations which are not allowed. Whilst I cannot see anything historically interesting about that building, I'm glad that the company took the trouble to explain their reasons for not meeting their obligations to the disabled.

I also understand that many buildings in Brighton are listed and, as such, cannot always allow the alterations needed to provide a loo on ground level. However, I feel that such establishments should be made, by law, to display a notice informing disabled people that they don’t have such facilities.

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