Councillors will consider whether to introduce charges for public toilets in North Yorkshire this week.

North Yorkshire Council operates the largest public toilet network in England and Wales, with 94 sites. All toilets in the Harrogate district are free but some elsewhere charge between 20p to 40p.

Public toilets are a non-mandatory service, meaning the council is not obliged to provide them. The budget for providing them is expected to overspend by £205,000 in the 2025/26 financial year.

With the Conservative-run authority looking to make savings, charging to spend a penny is on the agenda of the transport, economy, environment and enterprise overview and scrutiny committee meeting on Thursday this week.

A paper published ahead of the meeting says public toilets frequently go over budget and the cost of updating the network “could be up to £600,000”.

It adds fee avoidance “can be as high as 82%”, “entry systems can be out of order up to 50% of the time due to vandalism” and most of the technology is over seven years old.

A section headed ‘strategic decisions’, says:

"Do we charge for access? If so, where and how much and have we a robust system in place that is equitable across the county?"

The section also floats the possibilities of seasonal closures, reduced opening times and permanent closures.

Some parish councils have already been approached about the possibility of taking over toilets, but many are reluctant to adopt a loss-making service and risk increasing parish precepts.

A more detailed council officer’s report is expected to be published before Thursday’s meeting.