The superloo where Polish migrants are fighting to spend the night for 20p
Polish immigrants are coming to blows for the privilege of sleeping in public lavatories at a cost of just 20p per night.
Cleaning staff and businesses near a new block of six conveniences have complained of fights among the labourers.
Residents have told how workers turn up each evening at the £246,000 octagonal building in Hackney, East London, carrying sleeping bags and building tools, to snatch a few hours' sleep before heading off to work again next morning.
Others lock themselves in for several hours during the day to catch up on sleep.
Cleaners, who have a master key to unlock the cubicles, have being confronted with occupants enjoying a morning lie-in and refusing to leave.
The fighting breaks out nightly over the two disabled cubicles which are more spacious than the standard ones.
At 6ft 8in by 4ft 10in, there is just enough room to stretch out on the tiled floor for the night.
The accommodation boasts a separate front door, central heating, a lavatory, basin, soap dispenser, mirror, peg, hand dryer and waste bin.
Those who fail to get into the disabled loos must must make do with a cramped standard cubicle, measuring 2ft 6in by 3ft 10ins.
With hundreds of thousands of eastern European migrants flocking to Britain in search of work, the unofficial use of public toilets as cheap dormitories is a stark illustration of the strain on local facilities and services.
Martin Edwards, manager of the Keycut Services shop opposite the toilets, said: "People are turning up with rucksacks and sleeping bags and they get nice accommodation fully maintained and with a bathroom for just 20p a night.
"They are all young guys. From about 10.30pm you can see people fighting over the best cubicles.
"You can see cardboard on the floor in the morning where they have been making their bed.
"Every morning the cleaners have to try and drag them out and this has been going on since the toilets were built three months ago.
"Some of them are clearly Polish builders who are using this as a base because you can see their tool bags with them."
Mr Edwards added: "I can see why they do it because it must be the cheapest accommodation in Hackney.
"Perhaps I should sell my own house and move in."
Anh Luong, of the nearby Lisa Star Nails shop, said: "Sometimes people who want to use the loos are so intimidated that they ask to use the one in my shop instead.
"This building is too big, it is like a house. You see queuing and fighting and it will probably get worse."
Paul Duffy, another resident, said some of the immigrants were men who had struggled to find work since arriving in Britain, and spoke little or no English.
He added: "They sometimes go to one of the halfway houses but if they can't get a bed they sleep in the toilets."
Hackney Council is not amused and is seeking what it calls a "technical solution" in the hope that redesigned locks will stop the WCs from being used as a low- cost dosshouse.
Official figures show more than 1,500 eastern Europeans have registered for work in Hackney since the EU expansion in 2004. This is likely to be a huge underestimate of the influx.
A Hackney Council spokesman said: "We do see this as a problem.
"They are stopping legitimate users from getting into the toilets and the cleaners can't do their job. We have around 2,000 bed spaces for homeless people in the borough, which should be adequate." Link
Cleaning staff and businesses near a new block of six conveniences have complained of fights among the labourers.
Residents have told how workers turn up each evening at the £246,000 octagonal building in Hackney, East London, carrying sleeping bags and building tools, to snatch a few hours' sleep before heading off to work again next morning.
Others lock themselves in for several hours during the day to catch up on sleep.
Cleaners, who have a master key to unlock the cubicles, have being confronted with occupants enjoying a morning lie-in and refusing to leave.
The fighting breaks out nightly over the two disabled cubicles which are more spacious than the standard ones.
At 6ft 8in by 4ft 10in, there is just enough room to stretch out on the tiled floor for the night.
The accommodation boasts a separate front door, central heating, a lavatory, basin, soap dispenser, mirror, peg, hand dryer and waste bin.
Those who fail to get into the disabled loos must must make do with a cramped standard cubicle, measuring 2ft 6in by 3ft 10ins.
With hundreds of thousands of eastern European migrants flocking to Britain in search of work, the unofficial use of public toilets as cheap dormitories is a stark illustration of the strain on local facilities and services.
Martin Edwards, manager of the Keycut Services shop opposite the toilets, said: "People are turning up with rucksacks and sleeping bags and they get nice accommodation fully maintained and with a bathroom for just 20p a night.
"They are all young guys. From about 10.30pm you can see people fighting over the best cubicles.
"You can see cardboard on the floor in the morning where they have been making their bed.
"Every morning the cleaners have to try and drag them out and this has been going on since the toilets were built three months ago.
"Some of them are clearly Polish builders who are using this as a base because you can see their tool bags with them."
Mr Edwards added: "I can see why they do it because it must be the cheapest accommodation in Hackney.
"Perhaps I should sell my own house and move in."
Anh Luong, of the nearby Lisa Star Nails shop, said: "Sometimes people who want to use the loos are so intimidated that they ask to use the one in my shop instead.
"This building is too big, it is like a house. You see queuing and fighting and it will probably get worse."
Paul Duffy, another resident, said some of the immigrants were men who had struggled to find work since arriving in Britain, and spoke little or no English.
He added: "They sometimes go to one of the halfway houses but if they can't get a bed they sleep in the toilets."
Hackney Council is not amused and is seeking what it calls a "technical solution" in the hope that redesigned locks will stop the WCs from being used as a low- cost dosshouse.
Official figures show more than 1,500 eastern Europeans have registered for work in Hackney since the EU expansion in 2004. This is likely to be a huge underestimate of the influx.
A Hackney Council spokesman said: "We do see this as a problem.
"They are stopping legitimate users from getting into the toilets and the cleaners can't do their job. We have around 2,000 bed spaces for homeless people in the borough, which should be adequate." Link
posted by BEING HAD at 4:09 AM
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