Councillor who announced closure of public toilets fined for urinating in street

Authored by telegraph.co.uk and submitted by HLayton
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A council chief involved in closing public toilets has been left "embarrassed" after he was caught urinating in the street by police.

South Lanarkshire Council's deputy leader, Jackie Burns, was spotted in the act in Hamilton town centre and was issued a £40 fixed penalty notice by police.

The incident, which happened on Saturday, came just months after the Labour councillor oversaw the closure of public toilets in his council area.

Cllr Burns has since apologised and said he had been "embarrassed" by his actions near the Hamilton Palace nightclub.

He said: "I was in a taxi rank at the Bottom Cross in Hamilton and needed the toilet. I went down a lane to relieve myself and was approached by police, who gave me a £40 fine which I have duly paid. I am embarrassed by the incident and have apologised."

"I am disappointed by this behaviour. He should consider his position as deputy leader" John Wilson MSP

In May, Burns told residents of his Larkhall ward that the Scottish Government's spending cuts were to blame for toilet closures, which he blamed on its financial resettlement.

He previously said: "Unfortunately, as part of the Scottish Government's financial settlement, South Lanarkshire Council has had to cut £22 million from its budget, which has resulted in all public conveniences in the council closing."

Mr Burns represents Larkhall and sits on a range of committees including social work, planning and education resources.

John Wilson, an MSP for Central Scotland, said: "I am disappointed by this behaviour. He should consider his position as deputy leader."

A Police Scotland spokeswoman said: "A 51-year-old man was issued with a fixed penalty ticket in relation to a minor act of anti-social behaviour within Hamilton town centre on Saturday 7 November."

Christina McKelvie, MSP for Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse criticised Cllr Jackie Burns for publicly urinating, saying his behaviour was "insulting and disgraceful" to the community he serves.

She said: "Back in April, Larkhall community councillors managed to get a three month stay of execution from South Lanarkshire Council which wanted to close the public conveniences in Mr Burns' home town of Larkhall.

"They closed on June 30. Perhaps that is a matter of some regret to Mr Burns now? His public behaviour is insulting and disgraceful to the residents of Hamilton. This is certainly a very anti-social act and one that any right-thinking person will condemn."

SNP councillor for Larkhall ward, Peter Craig, said: "It's a very embarrassing situation, especially for someone in Jackie's position.

"The community council have been trying to keep the public toilets open, especially for anyone with disabilities. This just goes to show that it's not only an embarrassing issue, but that we're in need of public toilets.

"I'm sure the community council will have a lot to say on the irony of this as Jackie has been fighting with them over the toilets as he says we don't need them - obviously there's not enough."

• One in seven public toilets closed by council cuts

• David Cameron pledges to save Britain's public loos

Graham Simpson, Scottish Conservative and Unionist councillor for East Kilbride West, said: "I think it's very embarrassing for Jackie, he clearly should have known better than to urinate in public.

"I imagine he's extremely embarrassed by the whole thing. This incident is just something that's embarrassing, but not a resigning matter."

A community council-led petition to save the toilets drew more than 3,000 signatures from residents in Larkhall and surrounding wards, and a poll found over 70 local businesses were in favour of supporting the facilities being kept open.

South Lanarkshire Council later granted a three-month reprieve for the toilets following the petition, but eventually closed the toilets indefinitely.

kaygeehigs on November 23rd, 2018 at 00:37 UTC »

It's a privilege to pee..

PawanYr on November 23rd, 2018 at 00:09 UTC »

Look on the bright side - you can be pretty sure there's no corruption in South Lanarkshire if the police were willing to fine their (edit: deputy) council leader for public urination.

ElectricHeadTrip on November 22nd, 2018 at 21:57 UTC »

He must be pissed.