I WOULD like to comment on the points raised in Mr Flakes's letter regarding the public toilets in Parliament Street, York (January 9).

The city's public toilets are cleaned on a regular basis, currently three times per day, Monday to Saturday, within opening hours, and not less than four hourly. On Sunday there are two cleans per day between 10am and 2pm.

It would appear that Mr Flakes's visit coincided with that of the service team which was there to clean the toilets.

We are aware that on December 18 the urinals did become blocked, causing an overflow. This problem was reported as soon as it was discovered and a crew was deployed to carry out repairs.

We try to ensure that the facilities are maintained to a high standard at all times.

The decision to close the city's public toilets on Christmas Day and New Year's Day (apart from night toilets, which were open), was based on the limited number of major retailers planning to open their stores and the additional cost to council tax payers of providing staff to service the toilets. Notices advising of the revised opening times were placed on all affected public toilets over the holiday period.

We take any comments on the availability of council services very seriously and will ensure that Mr Flakes's views are taken into account when future decisions on the opening times of the city's public toilets are made.

Jeremy Wayman,

Environment and development,

City of York Council,

St Leonard's Place,

York.

Updated: 10:54 Monday, January 16, 2006