The UK's toilet deserts: every council ranked

Walsall has one public toilet for every 18,480 residents. The City of London has one for every 176. We ranked all 361 UK council areas by public toilets per 10,000 people, using the 19,514 facilities recorded on Spend a Penny and ONS mid-2024 population estimates.

Key findings

The UK averages 2.82 public toilets per 10,000 people — about one for every 3,546 residents.
20 council areas have fewer than 1 public toilet per 10,000 residents — most are post-industrial towns in the North West and Midlands, and outer London boroughs.
The best-served places are rural and coastal: Scotland's islands, Gwynedd, Highland and the Derbyshire Dales all have 10× the provision of the worst-served towns.
The gap between the best-served area (City of London) and the worst (Walsall) is 105-fold.

The 20 biggest toilet deserts

Council areas with the fewest public toilets per 10,000 residents.

#	Council area	Toilets	Per 10,000 people	One toilet per…
1	Walsall	16	0.5	18,480 people
2	Hyndburn	5	0.6	17,212 people
3	St. Helens	14	0.7	13,490 people
4	Wigan	27	0.8	12,775 people
5	Bury	16	0.8	12,433 people
6	Rochdale	19	0.8	12,398 people
7	Slough	14	0.8	11,954 people
8	Wolverhampton	24	0.8	11,719 people
9	Barking and Dagenham	20	0.9	11,637 people
10	Bolton	27	0.9	11,485 people
11	Castle Point	8	0.9	11,323 people
12	Mansfield	10	0.9	11,314 people
13	East Renfrewshire	9	0.9	11,092 people
14	East Ayrshire	11	0.9	11,044 people
15	Harrow	25	0.9	10,829 people
16	Nuneaton and Bedworth	13	0.9	10,890 people
17	Doncaster	30	0.9	10,659 people
18	Knowsley	16	1.0	10,160 people
19	Darlington	11	1.0	10,226 people
20	Bradford	56	1.0	10,064 people

The 10 best-served areas

#	Council area	Toilets	Per 10,000 people	One toilet per…
1	City of London	86	56.9	176 people
2	Isles of Scilly	12	50.7	197 people
3	Na h-Eileanan Siar	74	28.4	352 people
4	Orkney Islands	62	28.2	355 people
5	Shetland Islands	57	24.6	407 people
6	Gwynedd	208	17.2	581 people
7	Argyll and Bute	138	15.7	635 people
8	Highland	325	13.7	730 people
9	Derbyshire Dales	87	12.1	825 people
10	Ceredigion	79	10.9	919 people

Every council area, ranked

Ranked from fewest to most public toilets per 10,000 residents. Every area links to its live toilet listings.

England (296 areas)

#	Council area	Toilets	Per 10,000 people	One toilet per…
1	Walsall	16	0.5	18,480 people
2	Hyndburn	5	0.6	17,212 people
3	St. Helens	14	0.7	13,490 people
4	Wigan	27	0.8	12,775 people
5	Bury	16	0.8	12,433 people
6	Rochdale	19	0.8	12,398 people
7	Slough	14	0.8	11,954 people
8	Wolverhampton	24	0.8	11,719 people
9	Barking and Dagenham	20	0.9	11,637 people
10	Bolton	27	0.9	11,485 people
11	Castle Point	8	0.9	11,323 people
12	Mansfield	10	0.9	11,314 people
13	Harrow	25	0.9	10,829 people
14	Nuneaton and Bedworth	13	0.9	10,890 people
15	Doncaster	30	0.9	10,659 people
16	Knowsley	16	1.0	10,160 people
17	Darlington	11	1.0	10,226 people
18	Bradford	56	1.0	10,064 people
19	Birmingham	121	1.0	9,782 people
20	Luton	25	1.1	9,564 people
21	North Kesteven	13	1.1	9,421 people
22	Kirklees	48	1.1	9,330 people
23	Blackburn with Darwen	18	1.1	9,030 people
24	Salford	33	1.1	8,920 people
25	Redditch	10	1.1	8,785 people
26	Swindon	28	1.1	8,710 people
27	Rotherham	32	1.2	8,644 people
28	Kingston upon Hull, City of	32	1.2	8,606 people
29	Stevenage	11	1.2	8,343 people
30	Ealing	47	1.2	8,212 people
31	Gloucester	17	1.2	8,153 people
32	Islington	28	1.3	7,965 people
33	Coventry	48	1.3	7,688 people
34	Havering	36	1.3	7,674 people
35	Hackney	35	1.3	7,622 people
36	Brent	47	1.3	7,510 people
37	Newcastle upon Tyne	43	1.3	7,456 people
38	Tamworth	11	1.4	7,374 people
39	Enfield	45	1.4	7,276 people
40	Broxbourne	14	1.4	7,279 people
41	South Ribble	16	1.4	7,257 people
42	Thurrock	25	1.4	7,240 people
43	Dudley	46	1.4	7,216 people
44	Ashfield	18	1.4	7,198 people
45	Sunderland	40	1.4	7,215 people
46	Pendle	14	1.4	7,127 people
47	Leeds	119	1.4	7,102 people
48	Harlow	14	1.4	7,017 people
49	Dartford	18	1.4	6,945 people
50	West Northamptonshire	64	1.5	6,872 people
51	Southampton	38	1.5	6,827 people
52	Leicester	57	1.5	6,813 people
53	East Hertfordshire	23	1.5	6,821 people
54	Stoke-on-Trent	40	1.5	6,761 people
55	Nottingham	49	1.5	6,757 people
56	Bedford	29	1.5	6,723 people
57	South Staffordshire	17	1.5	6,731 people
58	Stockton-on-Tees	31	1.5	6,671 people
59	Derby	41	1.5	6,687 people
60	Haringey	40	1.5	6,596 people
61	Lincoln	16	1.5	6,570 people
62	South Tyneside	23	1.5	6,582 people
63	Redbridge	49	1.5	6,556 people
64	Solihull	34	1.5	6,507 people
65	Tameside	37	1.5	6,477 people
66	Preston	25	1.5	6,515 people
67	Basildon	30	1.6	6,454 people
68	Barnet	63	1.6	6,429 people
69	Rochford	14	1.6	6,415 people
70	Wakefield	59	1.6	6,232 people
71	Wirral	53	1.6	6,205 people
72	Oadby and Wigston	10	1.6	6,170 people
73	Cannock Chase	17	1.6	6,123 people
74	Gedling	20	1.7	6,009 people
75	Warrington	36	1.7	5,983 people
76	Bexley	43	1.7	5,964 people
77	Sutton	36	1.7	5,959 people
78	Welwyn Hatfield	21	1.7	5,849 people
79	Sefton	49	1.7	5,842 people
80	Croydon	70	1.7	5,848 people
81	Hartlepool	17	1.7	5,775 people
82	Manchester	102	1.7	5,781 people
83	Middlesbrough	27	1.7	5,784 people
84	Central Bedfordshire	55	1.7	5,743 people
85	Chorley	21	1.7	5,754 people
86	Epping Forest	24	1.8	5,727 people
87	Wandsworth	59	1.8	5,723 people
88	Liverpool	90	1.8	5,655 people
89	North East Derbyshire	19	1.8	5,613 people
90	Sheffield	104	1.8	5,601 people
91	Peterborough	40	1.8	5,591 people
92	Bolsover	15	1.8	5,585 people
93	Chelmsford	34	1.8	5,553 people
94	Fenland	19	1.8	5,521 people
95	Sandwell	64	1.8	5,529 people
96	Burnley	18	1.8	5,513 people
97	Rushcliffe	23	1.8	5,510 people
98	Melton	10	1.9	5,405 people
99	Calderdale	39	1.9	5,408 people
100	North Northamptonshire	70	1.9	5,341 people
101	Cherwell	32	1.9	5,326 people
102	Greenwich	57	1.9	5,255 people
103	Barnsley	48	1.9	5,245 people
104	Trafford	46	1.9	5,240 people
105	West Lindsey	19	1.9	5,221 people
106	Ipswich	27	1.9	5,195 people
107	Rossendale	14	1.9	5,218 people
108	Redcar and Cleveland	27	1.9	5,157 people
109	Hammersmith and Fulham	37	2.0	5,100 people
110	Rugby	24	2.0	5,099 people
111	Bromsgrove	20	2.0	5,084 people
112	South Kesteven	29	2.0	5,074 people
113	Eastleigh	29	2.0	4,929 people
114	Epsom and Ewell	17	2.0	4,899 people
115	Dacorum	33	2.0	4,892 people
116	Halton	27	2.0	4,872 people
117	Spelthorne	22	2.0	4,867 people
118	Tewkesbury	21	2.1	4,855 people
119	Basingstoke and Deane	40	2.1	4,828 people
120	Bassetlaw	26	2.1	4,805 people
121	Broxtowe	24	2.1	4,774 people
122	North Hertfordshire	29	2.1	4,731 people
123	South Holland	21	2.1	4,728 people
124	Wyre Forest	22	2.1	4,723 people
125	Reading	39	2.1	4,690 people
126	Blaby	23	2.1	4,703 people
127	Colchester	43	2.1	4,656 people
128	Worcester	23	2.2	4,638 people
129	Rushmoor	23	2.2	4,598 people
130	Braintree	36	2.2	4,564 people
131	North East Lincolnshire	35	2.2	4,569 people
132	Cheshire East	93	2.2	4,530 people
133	Hillingdon	73	2.2	4,509 people
134	Milton Keynes	68	2.2	4,498 people
135	Surrey Heath	21	2.2	4,500 people
136	Oldham	56	2.2	4,492 people
137	Newham	84	2.2	4,459 people
138	South Gloucestershire	69	2.3	4,440 people
139	Newcastle-under-Lyme	29	2.3	4,404 people
140	Erewash	26	2.3	4,394 people
141	South Norfolk	34	2.3	4,366 people
142	Uttlesford	22	2.3	4,323 people
143	Lichfield	26	2.3	4,305 people
144	St Albans	35	2.3	4,315 people
145	Wychavon	32	2.3	4,313 people
146	Hart	24	2.3	4,298 people
147	Cheshire West and Chester	87	2.3	4,272 people
148	Wokingham	44	2.4	4,255 people
149	Hertsmere	26	2.4	4,239 people
150	East Riding of Yorkshire	84	2.4	4,237 people
151	Merton	52	2.4	4,203 people
152	West Lancashire	29	2.4	4,207 people
153	Medway	70	2.4	4,181 people
154	Harborough	25	2.4	4,189 people
155	Waltham Forest	67	2.4	4,175 people
156	Vale of White Horse	36	2.4	4,149 people
157	Stockport	74	2.4	4,107 people
158	South Cambridgeshire	42	2.4	4,108 people
159	Fareham	28	2.4	4,122 people
160	County Durham	131	2.4	4,107 people
161	Watford	26	2.4	4,122 people
162	Charnwood	46	2.4	4,095 people
163	Mid Suffolk	27	2.4	4,103 people
164	Lewisham	74	2.5	4,071 people
165	Maldon	17	2.5	4,067 people
166	Blackpool	36	2.5	4,005 people
167	Huntingdonshire	48	2.5	3,971 people
168	Swale	40	2.5	3,959 people
169	Gosport	21	2.5	3,949 people
170	South Derbyshire	30	2.5	3,916 people
171	York	54	2.6	3,876 people
172	North West Leicestershire	29	2.6	3,858 people
173	Bracknell Forest	34	2.6	3,847 people
174	Hinckley and Bosworth	31	2.7	3,764 people
175	Kingston upon Thames	46	2.7	3,754 people
176	Breckland	39	2.7	3,759 people
177	Exeter	37	2.7	3,741 people
178	Fylde	23	2.7	3,715 people
179	Gravesham	30	2.7	3,689 people
180	Plymouth	74	2.7	3,677 people
181	Reigate and Banstead	44	2.8	3,617 people
182	Buckinghamshire	161	2.8	3,595 people
183	Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole	114	2.8	3,587 people
184	Southwark	88	2.8	3,577 people
185	Gateshead	57	2.8	3,557 people
186	Boston	20	2.8	3,554 people
187	Maidstone	53	2.8	3,543 people
188	Warwick	44	2.8	3,520 people
189	Kensington and Chelsea	41	2.8	3,525 people
190	Bath and North East Somerset	57	2.9	3,509 people
191	Wealden	48	2.9	3,477 people
192	Chesterfield	31	2.9	3,421 people
193	North Tyneside	63	2.9	3,413 people
194	East Staffordshire	39	3.0	3,325 people
195	Woking	32	3.0	3,302 people
196	West Oxfordshire	37	3.1	3,269 people
197	Tonbridge and Malling	42	3.1	3,258 people
198	Bromley	103	3.1	3,256 people
199	Telford and Wrekin	61	3.1	3,212 people
200	Wiltshire	163	3.1	3,213 people
201	East Cambridgeshire	29	3.1	3,204 people
202	Newark and Sherwood	40	3.1	3,197 people
203	Windsor and Maidenhead	50	3.1	3,179 people
204	Stratford-on-Avon	46	3.1	3,180 people
205	Worthing	36	3.2	3,163 people
206	Southend-on-Sea	59	3.2	3,140 people
207	Broadland	44	3.2	3,140 people
208	Babergh	31	3.2	3,130 people
209	Ashford	45	3.2	3,132 people
210	North Lincolnshire	55	3.2	3,115 people
211	Lambeth	102	3.2	3,107 people
212	Havant	41	3.2	3,097 people
213	Test Valley	44	3.3	3,073 people
214	Tunbridge Wells	39	3.3	3,069 people
215	Three Rivers	32	3.3	2,994 people
216	Eastbourne	35	3.4	2,979 people
217	Adur	22	3.4	2,950 people
218	Cambridge	51	3.4	2,928 people
219	North Warwickshire	23	3.4	2,918 people
220	Oxford	57	3.4	2,913 people
221	Cheltenham	42	3.5	2,899 people
222	Somerset	203	3.5	2,898 people
223	Stafford	49	3.5	2,889 people
224	Norwich	51	3.5	2,886 people
225	Hastings	32	3.5	2,851 people
226	Brentwood	28	3.5	2,833 people
227	Tendring	56	3.6	2,799 people
228	Wyre	43	3.6	2,761 people
229	Mid Devon	31	3.6	2,742 people
230	Stroud	46	3.7	2,732 people
231	Shropshire	122	3.7	2,725 people
232	Amber Valley	48	3.7	2,718 people
233	West Suffolk	71	3.8	2,655 people
234	King's Lynn and West Norfolk	59	3.8	2,648 people
235	West Berkshire	63	3.8	2,621 people
236	Portsmouth	83	3.9	2,582 people
237	South Oxfordshire	61	3.9	2,565 people
238	Thanet	56	3.9	2,548 people
239	Ribble Valley	26	4.0	2,531 people
240	Malvern Hills	33	4.0	2,522 people
241	Arun	69	4.1	2,465 people
242	Rutland	17	4.1	2,438 people
243	North Somerset	92	4.1	2,441 people
244	Brighton and Hove	119	4.2	2,385 people
245	Elmbridge	60	4.2	2,365 people
246	Canterbury	69	4.3	2,349 people
247	Torbay	60	4.3	2,335 people
248	Lancaster	62	4.3	2,339 people
249	Hounslow	129	4.3	2,321 people
250	Tower Hamlets	144	4.3	2,305 people
251	East Suffolk	109	4.4	2,290 people
252	Bristol, City of	219	4.4	2,258 people
253	Camden	97	4.5	2,237 people
254	Sevenoaks	55	4.5	2,232 people
255	Mole Valley	40	4.5	2,218 people
256	Herefordshire, County of	87	4.5	2,196 people
257	Forest of Dean	41	4.6	2,189 people
258	Waverley	62	4.6	2,166 people
259	Dover	56	4.7	2,139 people
260	Mid Sussex	77	4.8	2,101 people
261	Runnymede	44	4.8	2,094 people
262	East Hampshire	63	4.8	2,063 people
263	Guildford	74	4.9	2,045 people
264	Tandridge	45	5.0	2,013 people
265	Lewes	51	5.0	2,007 people
266	Winchester	68	5.0	1,995 people
267	Torridge	35	5.0	1,995 people
268	Horsham	78	5.2	1,943 people
269	Northumberland	172	5.2	1,927 people
270	New Forest	92	5.2	1,914 people
271	East Devon	83	5.3	1,906 people
272	Teignbridge	73	5.3	1,898 people
273	North Yorkshire	342	5.4	1,858 people
274	Staffordshire Moorlands	52	5.4	1,859 people
275	Cumberland	152	5.4	1,845 people
276	Dorset	212	5.4	1,839 people
277	Crawley	69	5.6	1,797 people
278	High Peak	52	5.7	1,768 people
279	Great Yarmouth	58	5.8	1,733 people
280	East Lindsey	85	5.8	1,708 people
281	Folkestone and Hythe	68	6.0	1,653 people
282	Rother	59	6.1	1,629 people
283	Chichester	82	6.4	1,572 people
284	Cotswold	62	6.8	1,478 people
285	Westminster	146	7.0	1,438 people
286	Richmond upon Thames	137	7.0	1,436 people
287	North Devon	75	7.4	1,350 people
288	Cornwall	495	8.5	1,178 people
289	South Hams	79	8.6	1,166 people
290	Westmorland and Furness	202	8.8	1,140 people
291	West Devon	55	9.3	1,071 people
292	Isle of Wight	133	9.4	1,065 people
293	North Norfolk	100	9.7	1,032 people
294	Derbyshire Dales	87	12.1	825 people
295	Isles of Scilly	12	50.7	197 people
296	City of London	86	56.9	176 people

Scotland (32 areas)

#	Council area	Toilets	Per 10,000 people	One toilet per…
1	East Renfrewshire	9	0.9	11,092 people
2	East Ayrshire	11	0.9	11,044 people
3	Renfrewshire	22	1.2	8,599 people
4	East Dunbartonshire	14	1.3	7,855 people
5	Midlothian	13	1.3	7,683 people
6	North Lanarkshire	49	1.4	7,031 people
7	Aberdeen City	45	1.9	5,151 people
8	South Lanarkshire	65	1.9	5,139 people
9	Falkirk	32	2.0	5,001 people
10	Glasgow City	132	2.0	4,927 people
11	West Lothian	39	2.1	4,781 people
12	Clackmannanshire	11	2.1	4,737 people
13	Dundee City	38	2.5	3,944 people
14	West Dunbartonshire	25	2.8	3,565 people
15	Inverclyde	26	3.3	3,034 people
16	City of Edinburgh	182	3.4	2,916 people
17	Fife	135	3.6	2,776 people
18	South Ayrshire	43	3.8	2,611 people
19	North Ayrshire	53	4.0	2,528 people
20	Angus	48	4.2	2,392 people
21	Perth and Kinross	72	4.7	2,145 people
22	Aberdeenshire	124	4.7	2,138 people
23	East Lothian	62	5.4	1,858 people
24	Scottish Borders	83	7.1	1,409 people
25	Moray	78	8.2	1,218 people
26	Stirling	82	8.7	1,149 people
27	Dumfries and Galloway	139	9.5	1,049 people
28	Highland	325	13.7	730 people
29	Argyll and Bute	138	15.7	635 people
30	Shetland Islands	57	24.6	407 people
31	Orkney Islands	62	28.2	355 people
32	Na h-Eileanan Siar	74	28.4	352 people

Wales (22 areas)

#	Council area	Toilets	Per 10,000 people	One toilet per…
1	Cardiff	48	1.3	7,998 people
2	Caerphilly	25	1.4	7,075 people
3	Bridgend	21	1.4	7,025 people
4	Neath Port Talbot	22	1.5	6,511 people
5	Flintshire	26	1.7	5,995 people
6	Torfaen	19	2.0	4,954 people
7	Swansea	54	2.1	4,654 people
8	Vale of Glamorgan	30	2.2	4,525 people
9	Rhondda Cynon Taf	54	2.2	4,497 people
10	Merthyr Tydfil	14	2.4	4,212 people
11	Wrexham	34	2.5	4,066 people
12	Blaenau Gwent	18	2.6	3,771 people
13	Newport	55	3.3	3,053 people
14	Carmarthenshire	80	4.2	2,385 people
15	Denbighshire	47	4.8	2,089 people
16	Monmouthshire	54	5.7	1,758 people
17	Isle of Anglesey	50	7.2	1,382 people
18	Conwy	86	7.5	1,336 people
19	Powys	113	8.4	1,195 people
20	Pembrokeshire	118	9.4	1,066 people
21	Ceredigion	79	10.9	919 people
22	Gwynedd	208	17.2	581 people

Northern Ireland (11 areas)

#	Council area	Toilets	Per 10,000 people	One toilet per…
1	Lisburn and Castlereagh	20	1.3	7,583 people
2	Belfast	67	1.9	5,260 people
3	Antrim and Newtownabbey	33	2.2	4,488 people
4	Derry City and Strabane	37	2.4	4,118 people
5	Mid Ulster	41	2.7	3,725 people
6	Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon	62	2.8	3,589 people
7	Mid and East Antrim	41	2.9	3,413 people
8	Ards and North Down	67	4.0	2,469 people
9	Newry, Mourne and Down	82	4.5	2,233 people
10	Causeway Coast and Glens	76	5.3	1,868 people
11	Fermanagh and Omagh	72	6.1	1,635 people

Methodology & reuse

Toilet counts are the 19,514 publicly accessible facilities recorded on Spend a Penny as of 2026-07-05, built from the Great British Public Toilet Map (CC BY 4.0), OpenStreetMap (ODbL) and community reports, matched to council areas by postcode. Populations are ONS mid-2024 population estimates (Nomis, ONS). Counts include facilities whose current status is unconfirmed; real provision in the worst-served areas may be lower still.

Journalists and researchers: this data is free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 — credit “Spend a Penny” with a link to this page. For the full dataset or regional breakdowns, get in touch.

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