HistoryExtra

Britain's dying high streets 'could be saved' by unlikely revival

Britain's dying high streets 'could be saved' by unlikely revival The first flushing public toilets were invented 175 years ago. Now 60% have vanished from our streets, and public urination is once again causing a health hazard. If a 19th century urine deflector or “wazzbaffle” had been protecting the West London wall where Lord Mandelson was caught short recently, it wouldn’t have been the first time the disgraced peer’s mistakes had come back to haunt him.