A council has been accused of “breathtaking” discrimination in a row over access to public toilets.

Surfer Steve Thomas claimed Redcar and Cleveland Council was “affecting vulnerable members of the community in a massive way”.

Mr Thomas, who has coeliac disease, symptoms of which include diarrhoea, was unable to enter the designated ‘Changing Places’ toilet at Saltburn’s Cat Nab car park and described having to dash with “a*** cheeks clenched” to the next nearest disabled accessible toilets on the Lower Promenade about a third of a mile away as he was “absolutely desperate”.

The council said the loos in question at Cat Nab were not in fact standard toilets for people with disabilities, but an “extra facility provided for people with complicated needs” who also required a carer.

Mr Thomas had encountered difficulties with a keypad entry system which was recently installed as a security measure in a bid to prevent vandalism, for which he did not have the code.

He said the council’s “excuses” were a “weak wash out” and he had yet to meet a disabled person who was aware of the difference in the facilities.

The 57-year-old, from Redcar, said he would generally choose to use a regular men’s toilet, only relying on a disabled toilet when needed.

But on the day of the incident the men’s toilets were locked as it was early in the morning and before their usual opening hours.

He said there was no information with a number to call in case of difficulties entering the loo at Cat Nab, or direction to another facility, and when he complained to the council in the first instance he was basically told to find somewhere else to go.

Mr Thomas said to gain the entry code he was told he had to show a blue badge and fill a form to join a membership scheme, which would not be convenient for many visitors.

He said: “Is it right that they [the council] are excluding the right to use a disabled toilet, except to those in the know?

“Sometimes I have to go to the loo in a hurry, I only get seconds notice when my tummy turns.

“When I need to go I need to go.”

On another day he said he had seen a disabled woman in a wheelchair having to turn away “in tears” and appearing “frantic” after she too could not get in.

He said: “It is absolutely ridiculous, it is lunacy.

“It is so discriminating it is breathtaking.”

Mr Thomas, a former British Steel engineer, added: “They [the council] are stopping a lot of people that have a legitimate reason to use the toilet.

“It’s so outrageous and two-dimensional thinking.

“It really needs to be highlighted as they need a better thought process.”

He also criticised the council over the layout of the Cat Nab car park, which he said saw the disabled parking bays placed furthest away from the toilet block, when they should be next to them.

Mr Thomas said he had shared his concerns with local councillors Philip Thomson and Tristan Learoyd, who were supportive and agreed with his sentiments, while he had also contacted council leader Alec Brown, who had yet to respond.

In a statement the council said it strove to ensure every member of the community and the borough’s visitors had access to toilet facilities.

It described securing £460,000 funding for additional Changing Places toilets from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

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Changing Places toilets are larger accessible toilets for severely disabled people, with equipment such as hoists, privacy screens, adult-sized changing benches, peninsula toilets  – which protrude out into a room at least one metre away from walls – and space for carers.

The statement said: “Our number of these toilets has grown from one to seven and they are clearly signposted as specialised facilities for people with serious conditions who need extra support. 

“Changing Places toilets are not standard toilets for people with disabilities – known as accessible WCs –  but are an extra facility provided for people with complicated needs who need to have a carer with them.

The Northern Echo:

“There are another nine accessible toilets for people with disabilities provided by the council either at, or within, 200 metres of the majority of the 11 regular public toilets in the borough. 

“For the Cat Nab area in Saltburn, there is an accessible toilet for people with disabilities approximately 150 metres away adjacent to the pier.”

The council said membership for access to Changing Places toilets was free and a blue badge was requested upon application to avoid the need to ask for medical records.