The winners of the 2009 Loo of the Year Awards were announced in December at the National Motorcycle Museum, near Birmingham. The annual competition, run by the British Toilet Association, seeks to highlight the best ‘away from home’ toilets in the UK. Over 1,500 entries were received, of which 58 per cent of the total entries achieved the top five star grading, compared with 42 per cent in 2008.

The UK Overall Winners Trophy was awarded to McDonald's restaurants. The awards managing director Mike Bone commented: ‘The UK's restaurant and hospitality sectors are placing significantly increasing importance on provision of first class toilets that contain the facilities their customers need and expect when visiting their premises. McDonald's has continued to improve the quality of their customer toilets since winning National Awards in previous years.’

Other major UK trophy winners were:
•    East Lothian Council for accessible facilities
•    TC Contractors for individual category entries
•    Brighton and Hove City Council for public toilet entries
•    J D Wetherspoon for corporate provider entries
•    South Lanarkshire Council for adult/child changing facilities
•    ASDA for babychange facilities
•    The Camping and Caravanning Club for family friendly facilities

For a full report of the awards, visit the Loo of the Year Awards website
www.loo.co.uk/news/index.php4