A DAUGHTER who helped her blind mother into the disabled toilet at Horspath sports ground said she was "disgusted" at the health and safety nightmare they discovered.

Patricia Joyce and mother Betty Lacey made a complaint to Oxford City Council after they found the toilet in a "filthy" state and Ms Joyce feared for her mother’s safety.

She said the council told her the toilets should not have been open and had been waiting to be fixed for weeks.

Ms Joyce said: "We were at Horspath running track on Sunday and my mother is totally blind so I took her into the disabled toilets and they were disgusting.

"She would normally go in on her own and my dad would wait outside but as I was there I went with her.

"Being totally blind my mother would not have known its state, but it was absolutely filthy: who knows what she could have come out with – it is a health and safety risk.

"I find that very hard to swallow."

The pair said the disabled toilet was not only unclean, it was also broken and the door would not lock.

As the only ladies' disabled toilet at the sports ground which holds regular events, Ms Joyce said fixing that cubicle should have been the council's first priority.

She said: "They gave the poorest excuse and said it should not have been unlocked as the toilet was broken.

"It should be the first priority to fix and clean when they have events on, or even a sign to tell people.

"As the only disabled toilet it’s a health and safety risk for any disabled toilet users whether they’re in wheelchairs or blind or whatever – it is not very nice for people."

Nationally, human rights campaigners have called for local councils to provide more public toilets as standard after more than 1,700 have been closed in the UK.

Oxford City Council looks after more than 30 public toilets in Oxford.

In 2009, councillors voted to close seven public toilets to save £50,000 a year but, following a grant of more than £2.2m from Government, decided to revamp them instead.

This included toilets in Knights Bridge, Blackbird Leys and most recently toilets in Gloucester Green.

The council apologised this week for not fixing the disabled toilet first as a priority.

Head of direct services Graham Bourton said: "The toilet was out of use and had been locked to allow its malfunctioning flushing mechanism to be repaired.

"There was an athletics event at the site and it’s very likely that someone attending the event may have unlocked it. We have some ongoing toilet repairs in this pavilion and had arranged for the disabled toilet to be fixed as part of that work.

"Unfortunately, we did not start with the disabled toilet, which is the only one available on site, and we apologise for the inconvenience caused by this delay.

"All the toilet facilities at the pavilion have now been repaired this week and will be up and running in time for this weekend’s events."