Campaign will welcome sanitary bins in male toilets across Hampshire to help men living with incontinence

City businesses are going to be asked by Portsmouth party leaders to put bins in their toilets, with the Executive Member for Countryside and Regulatory Services to consider 'as soon as reasonably practicable' their provision in County Council public toilets.

Men with prostate cancer, incontinence problems, a stoma or a colonoscopy have no direct access to sanitary bins to dispose of waste.

A campaign, which is now being backed by the council, 'Boys need Bins' run by Prostate Cancer UK, is pushing for the law to be updated.

A survey by the charity found 95 per cent of men with incontinence feel anxiety due to a lack of sanitary bins in men's toilets for disposing of pads hygienically, with nearly one third of men surveyed having been forced to carry their own waste in a bag.

Jonathon Hall, 62, from Hampshire, had part of his prostate removed at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Cosham two years ago following a prostate cancer diagnosis.

He said: “The side effect of this procedure was incontinence. It is recoverable but the requirement now is using a bin as we are given pads that need to be disposed of.”

The public speaker and Prostate Cancer UK advocate uncovered a need for the bins after going to a public toilet in a Petersfield car park - where there was nowhere to dispose of his used pad in the facilities.

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He added: “I had to use a wrapper from a used pad and put it in a litter bin in the car park which could be embarrassing for many people who suffer from incontinence.

“I am so pleased it has been taken up by Hampshire Council Council. It makes me feel very confident for those who are scared at the thought of it. Many of us men are suffering with prostate issues. I’m hoping it becomes a legal requirement or a mandatory obligation to have sanitary bins in men's toilets.”

Nick Ridgman, Head of Health Information & Clinical Support at Prostate Cancer UK, said: "I’m delighted that there are now calls to provide sanitary bins for men in Portsmouth, just a few months after they were introduced by another Hampshire local authority in Winchester.

"A man living with incontinence should be free to leave his house knowing he can dispose of his pads discreetly and hygienically, in a proper sanitary bin.

"Despite the fact that 1 in 3 men over 65 experience incontinence, there’s a taboo around the issue and a serious lack of bins in men’s loos. Some men have even told us they’ve been forced to carry around their own used pads in a bag.”

Leader of Hampshire County Council, Councillor Rob Humby, said: "Further to the motion passed by council in September, I confirm that I sent a letter to Hampshire MPs asking them to support Prostate Cancer UK Boys Need Bins campaign and their core for legislation for the provision of sanitary bins in men's toilets."

Portsmouth City Council say they believe men 'should be able to safely and hygienically dispose of incontinence products easily and with dignity wherever they go'.