IT was great to see the visitors returning to New Brighton over the Easter weekend and everyone making the most of the sunny weather while, at the same time, acting responsibly knowing that we’re not yet sure that the threats of Covid have definitely departed.

But did anyone else notice how many were walking with crossed legs and frantic looks on their faces?

And what about the anguish when they discovered that every single public convenience the length of the promenade was still barred to the desperate?

They discovered that rattling the locks did not grant access.

Yes, I can well understand the caution which led to the closure of the loos in the early days of the pandemic, but, surely now things are easing up, it is time to open up once more.

They are certainly open in many local authority areas around the country. It’s not much fun having an enjoyable takeaway coffee in Vale Park then finding that there’s nowhere to take a leak.

And, just in case you are wondering, I resisted the temptation to join the Dip campers who, as has happened for generations, wander, attempting to look nonchalant, into the sandhills by the railway line, and then hope a train will not come along as they pause for a surreptitious wee.

Geoffrey Malone, by email