A DISABLED man has condemned the city council after he was unable to access its toilets.

Andy Thorngate suffers from Crohn's disease - chronic bowel condition that causes severe inflammation of the digestive tract that means he needs to use the toilet more often than most people.

The 34 year old has a radar key for toilets in the city to allow him to use the facilities even when they are locked to the general public.

But in the last months, Mr Thorngate has found that more and more of the city's toilets are double locked.

He said: "It's an embarrassing condition to have and a disability that has no physical signs.

"For example, I use the facilities in Riverside Park when I get out and above to keep active but more often than not they are closed.

"It's not just me. I have to use them medically, but the children in the park they can't use them either."

Mr Thorngate added: "The council don't seem to be interested in maintaining them. We pay council tax so we need them."

Southampton City Council provides and maintains five public toilets in the city, alongside a number of public toilets which are maintained by independent sector providers.

There are also 11 accessible toilets within private shopping centres in the city.

A spokesperson for the city council said the manager of the toilet in Riverside Park is done in partnership with Active Nation.

It added: "The city council open and clean the toilets between Monday to Friday and Active Nation open them at weekends when there is a sporting fixture.

"The council took responsibility for opening these toilets up during the week to increase the hours they are available as public toilets.

“The disabled toilet should be accessible at all times - it is possible that the door had been deadlocked on this occasion following cleaning.

"Officers will be scheduling more frequent visits in the coming weeks to ensure that this situation is not repeated."