Disabled access to Weymouth toilets‘not good enough’ (From Dorset Echo)

Disabled access to Weymouth toilets‘not good enough’

12:30pm Wednesday 12th September 2012 in News By Emma Walker

Henry and Elizabeth Smith

AN ELDERLY couple on holiday in Weymouth have criticised the town’s disabled facilities.

Henry and Elizabeth Smith, of Wiltshire, have spoken out after they could not get easy access to the disabled toilets in Cove Street.

Mrs Smith, 84, who relies on a walking frame, said they were ‘shocked’ at the difficulty they faced especially during the Paralympic Sailing events.

The pair had been visiting with their three daughters who hired a mobility scooter for their dad Henry, 82, to get around the town. After finding the toilet block locked the family was told to contact the borough council who then directed them to the Tourist Information Centre to buy a key for £3.

Mrs Smith said: “We were shocked at how difficult it was for us to gain entrance to a disabled toilet.

“I just thought it was awful especially with the Paralympics going on.

“If my husband and I had been on our own we would have been really stuck.

“I want to raise awareness of this so changes can be made for other disabled people who need easy access to facilities in the town.”

She added: “We have visited here before and the shop next to the toilets used to give us a key but this year it had all changed.

“We only needed to use the toilet not be sent around the town to find a key to get into one.”

Their daughter Caroline Rendell, of Oxford, said: “It is disgusting really and the town’s disabled facilities definitely need working on.

“We really like Weymouth but if my mum and dad had been on their own they would have been really stuck.

“I know a lot of the buildings are old but the access in a lot of them is really not great.

“When disabled or older people need the toilet access should be easy and stress-free.”

The family said they would not be put off from visiting the town but hoped the facilities could be improved.