Sussex MPs are campaigning to stop the closure of public toilets.

Three of the county's Members of Parliament are calling for a "steady increase" in the provision of conveniences across the UK.

Peter Bottomley (West Worthing), Laura Moffatt (Crawley) and Des Turner (Brighton Kemptown) want local authorities to be forced to maintain what they describe as a "vital public service".

At the moment there is no statutory obligation on councils to provide them.

As a result half of Britain's public toilets have shut over the past ten years.

The Sussex politicians are among 50 MPs who have signed a Commons early day motion demanding action to halt the decline.

The motion claims councils are closing toilets as a result of vandalism. This is having a "particularly serious impact on older people, people with disabilities and those with young families."

It adds: "We call upon the Government to introduce the necessary legislation to place on local authorities a duty to maintain and improve the facilities they currently have and to work towards a steady increase in the provision of these important public amenities."

Laura Moffatt, Labour MP for Crawley, said: "We can laugh about it but I know how important it is to have public toilets.

"If you have a condition you have to use the toilet when you go out."

Ms Moffatt said she understood councils faced difficulties in maintaining their facilities - such as vandalism - but said this did not justify their decision to close so many across Sussex.

Even in new developments there were problems. A new shopping centre in Crawley, County Oak, will not have a single public toilet, she said.

The MP plans to write to Crawley Borough Council and local retailers to ask them to improve their provision.

She said: "People need somewhere clean and safe to be able to go to the loo or else you end up with people using bushes - and that's against the law.

"Let's make sure local authorities have to provide more toilets."

Richard Chisnell, director of the British Toilet Association, which has been campaigning for nine years for Government action on toilets, said Brighton and Hove City Council - along with many authorities in the South Coast of England - was "trying hard to maintain a service, but probably not hard enough".

He said: "There have been closures and there have also been refurbishments. The problem is the lack of attendants to protect the toilets from our anti-social vandalism culture. But there's now a growing awareness that something needs to be done."

Councils needed more money and Government support to reverse the trend for closures, he added.

The Government is hosting the first toilet summit on April 26 to discuss its national strategy for the provision of public loos in England and Wales.

Has your area seen many public toilet blocks close? Leave your comments below.