Darlington Borough Council has apologised after an elderly woman was startled by a toilet attendant in the town centre.

The woman, who has not been named, had not realised the toilets in the Covered Market were being maintained by a male council worker.

She left the cubicle unlocked and was startled when the attendant, who did not realise it was occupied, opened the door.

Betty Henry, of Montrose Street, Darlington, said the woman ran out of the toilets screaming, and said: "She got quite a shock and it's lucky she didn't have a heart condition or something like that.

"I think it's inappropriate for a man to be working in the toilets because a lot of the elderly women who use them do not lock the cubicles."

A spokesman for Darlington Borough Council has apologised for any embarrassment which may have been caused.

But he said that male and female attendants worked in both toilets and there were signs warning people.