Local council buy high tech toilets after increasing tax

North London's Labour led Waltham Forest Council has installed 12 fancy loos - with heated seats and bidets - at its Town Hall and Assembly Hall - costing a total of £7,632.

This is nothing less than a slap in the face for residents who saw their council tax rise again this year.

A control panel affixed to the wall can be used to adjust the temperature of the seat, and the motions and temperature of jets of water.

Labour is once again flushing taxpayers' money down the the drain - these high-tech, heated and totally unnecessary loos are in a restricted area of the Town Hall predominately used for Council business.

A Waltham Forest Council spokesperson said: "We are committed to ensuring our facilities are accessible to everyone and these toilets are more comfortable for people with a number of conditions.

“But as well as being a place of council business, Waltham Forest Town Hall serves as a public events space, including for citizenship ceremonies, and as a wedding venue.

“We accept that, at £636 each to buy, these seats cost considerably more than a standard toilet seat, however this has been part of our overall long-term strategy to optimise income generation from our beautiful buildings.

“We believe it is working, since the refurbishment we’ve seen bookings as a wedding venue bring in £210,000 last year, and up to the same period this year we’ve already seen an increase of 22%. And on top of that we’ve had lots of gratitude from our guests and visitors, who have understood why we have them and have appreciated our approach.”

They added: “As with any capital works, the money has come out of the council’s capital fund and would not have resulted in any increase in council tax.”