A COUNCIL chief has said people might have to pay to use public toilets.

Brighton and Hove City Council’s executive director Geoff Raw told The Argus that charging could be introduced at public conveniences across the city.

The council faces a £26million funding gap and could slash up to 300 jobs to make ends meet in its 2015/16 budget.

Mr Raw said: “It’s a possibility to introduce charging, but only where you have a high volume of people.”

His comments came after a meeting of the Brighton and Hove Economic Partnership at the Brighton Hilton Metropole on Tuesday night, during which the issue of disabled toilets on the seafront was raised.

Mark Brady, owner of the Pump Room on the seafront, felt disabled toilet provision was not good enough.

He said it was “shameful” the council did not have a duty of care to provide the facilities.

Mr Raw told the meeting of 89 business leaders that his appeals to establishments to open up their toilets to the public had been met with a “deafening silence”.

He told The Argus: “It’s a challenge sometimes for some businesses to make their toilets available.

“What I am keen to explore is to work with businesses to find practical solutions.

“We want to support co-investment where we can share some of the costs.”

In July the council opened a newly refurbished pay-to-enter seafront toilet block at West Pier Arches.

Punters have to pay 30p to use the facilities, though disabled people get in free.

The decision to charge followed a Toilet Scrutiny Panel set up last year, which agreed that the council should look at new streams of income to improve standards and prevent closures in the face of budget pressures.

At the time Green councillor Pete West, chairman of the council’s environment, transport and sustainability committee, said the 30p cost was in line with other charging toilets throughout the country and would help pay for a full-time attendant over the summer.

Conservative opposition leader Geoffrey Theobald said: “I think most people’s primary concern is the number of toilets and that they are clean and nice to use.”

A council spokeswoman said there are no formal proposals to charge for any other public toilets in the city.