A group of older people have warned that they are deliberately avoiding drinking water or liquids due to a lack of public toilets.
Campaign group Wales Senior Forum said public washrooms across the country had either shut or become less accessible since the end of the pandemic.
Organisation’s chairman Gareth Parsons called on the Welsh government to provide specific funding for public lavatories.
According to research conducted by Age UK in 2022, 81 per cent of Londoners think that public toilet provision in their borough is bad.
Pensioner groups have called on the government for better toilet provision
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Martin Carroll, 75, told the BBC: "It’s very difficult. Before you go out you need to think about where you are going to go, where you are going to be in town, will there be the chance to use the toilet in a café of not?"
He added that sometimes he instead opted to stay home as it was easier than "constantly worrying."
One older Londoner told Age UK London: "Lack of clean, accessible public toilets traps people at home and prevents them getting out and about. It affects more of us than you might imagine."
Chief executive of Age UK London Abigail Wood said: "Good public toilet provision is a hallmark of a civilised society and the fact that 81 per cent of people think that the availability of toilets in their borough is bad is a scandal."
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Public toilets in London have not reopened since the covid pandemic
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She added: "The ‘loo leash’, where people don’t leave their homes as much as they might like because of worries that they will not be able to find a public toilet, is a significant cause of social isolation."
Nine in 10 Londoners have considered public toilet provision before making a journey to a particular place, and 52 per cent say they sometimes reduce the amount they drink before leaving home.
Managing director of the British Toilet Association Raymond Martin told The Guardian: "We reckon we’ve lost 50 per cent of all [standalone public] toilets across the country in the last 10 years. It’s a crisis situation."
Meanwhile, the Welsh Government has called on local authorities to make better use of existing toilet facilities.
Toilets at Victoria Station in central London
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A spokesman from the Welsh Government said: “We have issued comprehensive statutory guidance, which encourages them [local authorities] to make better use of existing toilet facilities in public and private sector buildings.
"It also highlights that accessible toilets are more important for people with conditions such as incontinence, urgency and prostate problems."
