Bus driver's toilet use gets White Rabbit's goat

A New Zealand restaurant owner has sent an $11,000 bill to Auckland mayor Len Brown for the "hurt and humiliation" of having to clean up after bus drivers who use his toilets. Mark Keddell, from the White Rabbit in central Auckland, said bus drivers whose routes terminate outside his restaurant, then come inside to use the toilets, without asking permission or buying anything. Even worse, they are careless in their aim.

In a letter to Brown, with a $10,998 invoice attached, Keddall said he was "personally sick" of having to clean up after the drivers. Keddell said his staff tried hard to look after customers with boutique soaps, seat sanitisers and cloth hand-towels because clean bathrooms reflected on the restaurant. He and his management team had been cleaning the toilets themselves and had resorted to taking photos of the drivers, who "slipped in stealthily" through a side entrance and avoided talking to staff.



"I can't ask my staff to clean them when they are in this state, so I often have to do it myself." Keddell said he felt a certain amount of sympathy for the drivers as there were few public toilets in the area, but they should show some respect, ask to use White Rabbit facilities - even buy something. "We are a business, too". Keddell got a hasty response from the mayor's chief-of-staff, Phil Wilson, who said he was "very sorry for the situation that exists" and would brief Brown.

Wilson also said he would raise the matter with Auckland Transport chief executive David Warburton, and he was sure "some influence" could be exerted on the bus companies. AT bus services manager Brendon Main said:"It is inappropriate for drivers to use private facilities and I will be saying that to the drivers' employers and AT will work with the employers to find alternatives for the drivers." Keddell said he was pleased with the response, "but it's terrible it's got to this stage and I have to bother people with more important things to deal with. I'm glad they've got back to me, but the proof is in the pudding - I'd like to see the consequences." And he wants his invoice paid.