Emin: I have to beg to use shop lavatories

TRACEY EMIN said she has been forced to “beg” to use shop lavatories in Margate because of a lack of public facilities in her home town.

A number of loos in the Kent town, have been closed while repair works are being carried out.

Thanet district council has put portable loos in place, which will remain until late September. But Emin, the award-winning artist, who had bladder cancer during lockdown and now has a urostomy bag, is calling for the facilities across the town to be improved.

The artist, who rose to fame in the 1990s as one of the YBAS (Young British Artists), said: “For myself, who has a disability of having a urostomy bag, I often find myself begging and showing my disability card to use toilets in shops.

“I can just about cope though because I live in Margate but I wonder how it is for all the people who come to visit, the children on the beach, the older people, people with disabilities.”

The 59-year-old added that she was appalled to see human excrement on the beach and along the sea wall. “Especially sad when there are a lot of public toilets that have just been left to go into disrepair,” she said. “As a citizen of Margate, I am sure many small businesses will greatly benefit from the regeneration of public loos, the first ones being by the clock tower.”

Thanet district council said: “The number of public toilets in Margate has been impacted by repairs to the facilities at Buenos Ayres and the Harbour Arm. We anticipate that the repairs to the public toilets will be completed ahead of the peak summer season.”