COMMUTERS are fuming over the cost of using toilets at a railway station.

People were shocked to see the price of the services at Brighton Station had been raised to 30p.

It was previously 20p, though in recent months the toilets have been free as the turnstiles have been out of action following vandalism.

One Southern passenger, Peter Cox, said: “Toilets at Brighton Station were 20p and I was sort of OK with that but thought it a bit cheeky as Southern were using trains without toilets on coastal routes.

“I made sure I had a couple of 20p coins if I was going via Brighton Station and often gave someone a 20p as I left the toilet if I saw them searching their pockets for a coin.

“Then for the last few months toilets have been free.

“But I went to Brighton Station on Thursday and the toilet was still free – but new signs were being displayed showing a charge of 30p.

“I’m not happy – I seldom have 5p or 10p coins in my pocket.

“I know there is a change machine but, with contactless payments being the norm, will there be swipe access.”

Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) runs the Southern, Thameslink and Great Northern franchises in the South East and is responsible for the station.

A GTR spokeswoman said: “Across our entire network, we charge only for the use of the large toilet facilities at Brighton and London Blackfriars.

“That’s because these are in public areas and are used by lots of people, not just our passengers and so we need to employ dedicated staff to keep them clean.

“All the smaller facilities at our other stations are free.

“Historically, a small 20p fee had been in place for the toilets at Brighton for many years. This was increased to 30p many months ago, but since the turnstiles were vandalised there has been no charge to use the toilets.

“The toilets remain free for the time being while arrangements are made for a camera to be installed to point at the turnstiles in an effort to prevent vandalism.”

The price increase follows the moving of the taxi rank from the front to the back of the station in November last year.

GTR plans to transform the former rank into a “welcoming covered pedestrian plaza”.