London council launches toilet-finding text service

On Thursday, Westminster City Council launched a new text message service that will guide Londoners and tourists to their nearest public lavatory using mobile technology.

All you have to do is text 'Toilet' to 80097 and a reply will be sent with directions to the nearest lavatory. The service is available across the Westminster, an area that includes many of the capital's most popular sights, such as Big Ben, Trafalgar Square, and Buckingham Palace. However, it is not free of charge with the cost per text being roughly 50 cents (25 pence). Dubbed 'SatLav' the idea is the brain-child of a 26 year-old student, Gail Knight who won an innovation competition run by the council. Reuters reports that her inspiration was guilt at using shop toilets;

"When I'm out with friends we're always ducking into McDonalds or department stores to use their loos but we feel a bit bad about it," she said. "I thought a text service would be really useful for people on the move."