FALKLAND, B.C. — The B.C. Ministry of Transportation has shut down a number of roadside toilets due to cutbacks and that doesn’t sit well with businesses in the area.

Two pit toilets at a road stop on Hwy. 97 were recently shut down because of failing conditions, but Audrey Johnson, owner of Whispering Pines Restaurant, says that’s hurting her business.

“We’re devastated by it,” Johnson tells local media. She notes that a growing number of motorists are using her facilities that are intended for customers only. “Why should I pay for people I never see again?”

Johnson also empathizes with truck drivers who have come to expect the toilets to be there.

“We cater to the truckers but what do they do when we’re closed?” she asked.

“The provincial constraints are so severe they can’t afford a pot for travellers to pee in,” suggests Dennis Lapierre, Falkland’s Columbia-Shuswap Regional District Director. He adds that the location of the toilets benefited the community, as truckers would often visit the town while stopped.