The chronic situation regarding the possible closure of public toilets on the Isle of Cumbrae took a new twist over the weekend, as a Millport woman opened her house to six visitors to use her toilet due to facilities being closed.
The good weather brought many people over to the Isle of Cumbrae - but the closure to the toilets in the Garrison, and an out of order toilet at Crocodile Rock, resulted in problems.
The Garrison building's cafe and toilet facility was closed from lunchtime onwards on Saturday, while the nearest public toilet facility, near the Crocodile Rock facility, was out of order, meaning that people had a long walk to use the public toilets at Millport Pier.
Two complainants stated that by 2.20pm, 40 people had tried to use the facility at the Garrison, while a Millport householder kindly opened her door to allow six members of the public to use her personal toilet.
The Cumbrae Community Development Company, who run the Garrison, explained that the intention was for the cafe and toilets to be open, but because of staffing issues, the cafe had to close. The Garrison toilet will now be closed during weekends over the autumn and winter months.
Budget cuts were behind a controversial decision to close public conveniences throughout North Ayrshire, with island toilets under threat of closure over the next year, resulting in angry reaction from the public and businesses on the island, with an online Facebook petition having been set up.
The development company have stated that there are plans in place for to take over some of the public toilets. 
They are trying to seek external funding which will allow them to upgrade some of the toilets. The likelihood is however that the toilets will become pay to use, residents were told by the development company.
During the summer, North Ayrshire Council had sent their infrastructure officials over to examine the physical state of all public accessible toilets on the island.
The development company recommended that the toilets at The Cumbrae Slip, Crocodile Rock, Garrison Grounds, and Fintry Bay should be retained, with improvements necessary at the Garrison Grounds and Fintry Bay. They recommended that the Quayhead, which is in poor condition, and Clifton Street, which has accessibility issues, be demolished.
Development Company ​CEO Michael Bertram said that the issue is reaching crisis point: "I have had numerous concerns raised about this over the weekend.
"We had certain intimations about how we could move forward with the toilets, but the council are now wanting us to take over the management of the public halls as well. 
"We would need to receive a substantial revenue grant to cover their loss of rent and to cover all associated costs to managing the halls.
"We would also need a capital grant of £60,000 to put towards a building costs budget for new toilets and also refurbishment of existing toilets on the island.
"There has been no investment in our public toilets for decades.
"We need an island wide strategy to solve the public toilet problem, otherwise we are facing an environmental disaster with people pooping all over the place.
"The council need to put some money on the table to help us resolve this problem. We are very much wanting this resolved as quickly as possible."

A North Ayrshire Council spokesperson said: “The fact that two of our three public toilets at Millport suffered blocked drains at the same time at the weekend was both unfortunate and unforeseeable. We apologise to anyone who was unable to use the facilities, although visitors could still access public toilets at the pier.

“We are working with contractors to rectify any issues with the blocked drains and hope to have the public toilets fully re-opened as soon as possible.

“Discussions are ongoing with local groups and CCDC with a view to developing sustainable plans to keep the toilets open.”