ECJ EUROPEAN Cleaning Journal

A UK woman was so disgusted by the state of the public toilets in her town that she took in a bottle of bathroom cleaner and tackled the sinks herself.

Market trader Joanna Frier, 53, complained to the Lincolnshire council about the state of the toilets in St Lawrence Street, Horncastle.

"I asked them to spend four or five hours deep-cleaning the walls and tiles and they said they were sending their team," she said. "But two weeks later nothing had happened.

"So which cubicle do you use? The one with faeces on the toilet seat and in the pan, the one with the vodka bottle on the floor or the one with loo roll all over the floor?"

Interim operations manager at East Lindsey District Council David Roberts said: "Our teams do clean the toilets daily to try and ensure the cleanliness is of a good standard. This is always a challenge given that the toilets are heavily used."

In another incident - also in May - East Lindsey District Council was again in the news after a second resident took on the task of municipal cleaning. Owner of Janet's Tea Rooms in Woodhall Spa Janet Hunt spent four and a half hours cleaning the town's Royal Square before veterans from all over the world arrived for a two-day event commemorating the 70th anniversary of the "Dambusters" raid.

"There was human excrement smeared over a bench, the poppy wreaths had been blown about and bins were overflowing," said Mrs Hunt. It was disgusting."
Woodhall Spa Parish Council chairman David Clarke said: "All I can do is to apologise that on this occasion we did not meet our usual high standards."

Lincolnshire became "Bomber County" during World War II when its location and flat landscape made it home to 45 airfields. The Dambusters commemoration was one of a series events held to mark the Royal Air Force's 100th birthday on April 1.