£1 to spend a penny! The UK's most expensive public toilets revealed - with popular seaside towns the worst offenders

Published: 06:15 EDT, 2 October 2026 | Updated: 06:15 EDT, 2 October 2026 Whether you're out shopping in your local town centre or enjoying a day trip somewhere new with friends, the last thing you want to do is have to cough up just to go to the loo. It seems the days of using a public toilet for free are gone in many places, with some spots charging up to £1 a visit. The average cost for charged-for loos across the UK now comes to 31p, with data from a nationwide public toilet map revealing the most expensive spots across the country. Penzance tops the charts as the most expensive place to go to the loo, with the average cost of all toilets in the area (free and paid-for) coming to 40p.The lively market town in Cornwall may draw people in with its coastal views and beautiful location, but the public loos are a different story. Every toilet included in the dataset charges users, while other spots tend to have a mixture of free and paid-for options. Penzance ranked as the most expensive place in the UK for public loos on average (paid-for and free) Blackpool ranked third with an average price of 17p a popBoston followed with an average of 21p, and Blackpool rounds off the top three with 17p.In Blackpool, which draws in hordes of visitors every year with its beaches and illuminations, a startling 20 of the town's 27 mapped toilets charge users.The research, by Fast Loans UK, included analysis of publicly mapped toilet facilities from the Toilet Map and considered free alternatives as well as how much paid toilets cost in September. On England's south-east coast, Eastbourne came out as having the most expensive average price for paid-for toilets, costing a whopping £1 a pop.However, there are also plenty of free options in the resort town. Indeed, only 14 per cent of its toilets require money to use so its average cost of all toilets comes to 16p, ranking it fifth overall in the study. Other areas with high prices include Haywards Heath, which also averages at £1 for its paid-for facilities, Newbury at 75p as well as Hackney and Norwich at 60p.Some destinations have particularly high percentages of charged-for toilets.In the Lancashire-based town of Lytham St Annes, 65 per cent of loos require payment. Meanwhile, in Boston 64.71 per cent charge and over in Wolverhampton 61.90 per cent ask for cash. On England's south-east coast, Eastbourne came out as having the most expensive average price for paid-for toiletsCoastal destinations seem to dominate the rankings with some of the most expensive average costs overall (free and paid-for). Penzance, Blackpool, Lytham St Annes, Eastbourne, Fleetwood, Torquay, Scarborough and Rhyl all feature in the top ten.Prices vary considerably between areas, but among the cheapest spots to go to the loo (where charges apply) include Banbury, Rochdale, West Bromwich and Clydebank, where charges average just 10p.The bustling city of Manchester fares well too, with an average of 15p. Meanwhile Edinburgh is more than double at 40p.Plenty of towns have completely free facilities according to the database, offering visitors and residents the chance to use maintained public loos without having to pay. The most expensive places in the UK to use a public loo Destination Average cost of all toilets (paid and free) PenzanceBostonBlackpoolLytham St AnnesEastbourneMelton MowbrayFleetwoodTorquayScarboroughRhylKendalSkegnessCirencesterHackneyGalashielsColwyn BayHelensburghWigstonWestminsterWorkington 40p21p17p16p16p15p14p13p11p10p9p9p9p9p9p8p8p8p8p8p