STREET drinkers caught short due to a boarded-up York toilet are calling for it to be open all year round.

The drinkers, who sit in Glen Gardens, Heworth, every day, say they are forced to use a gutter or bushes during the winter when the toilet is shut.

Other members of the public are being inconvenienced by the toilets being closed, they claim.

One drinker, who asked to be named only as Wilf, said: "As soon as the bowling ends they shut the toilet.

"We are human beings and like everyone else we need to relieve ourselves.

"We see people coming in desperate for the toilet right through the day, but it is shut.

"We have even seen people in wheelchairs looking for a toilet, but the nearest public toilets are nowhere near."

Fellow drinker Phil said: "They go on about vandalism and people using drugs in there, but we don't do any of that. If we see (drug) users we tell them where to go, and we definitely don't have money to waste on spray paint.

"What if the Lord Mayor of York came in here to do a presentation or something? I bet he wouldn't have to use the gutter."

A City of York Council spokeswoman said financial constraints close the toilets during the winter, when there is not enough work to justify paying an attendant. The boarding up is done to try to prevent vandalism, but the toilets have still been attacked by vandals and graffiti sprayers over the last two years, she said.

The spokeswoman said: "We have received numerous complaints from residents about drinking in Glen Gardens over many years. It has proved to be such a problem that the council has taken out an order giving the police additional powers to deal with it.

"As far as the council is concerned, the consumption of alcohol in Glen

Gardens is not permitted."

Updated: 11:03 Monday, November 11, 2002