Bus drivers are urinating in bushes after their toilet in Brent Cross was vandalised.

Transport provider TfL closed the bus drivers' toilet, outside Brent Cross Shopping Centre in Hendon, on Monday, due to ‘misuse’ of the facility.

Metrolink drivers, who can use facilities at the shopping centre during the day, say they are not allowed to use the toilets outside of its 10am-8pm opening hours for health and safety reasons.

They said they are being punished for the graffiti found on the walls and flooding in the only male toilet.

Bus driver Marcia Mansfield, said she has to urinate in the near-by bush when the shopping centre is closed as she has nowhere else to go. She said: “Why do the good have to suffer for the bad?”

“The shopping centre is not open until 10 o’clock so what do you do? Sometimes they will let you in the shops but the big dogs say because of health and safety reasons they cannot let you in,” she added.

“We have to work because we have bills to pay and our children’s mouths to feed.”

She said the toilet is closed every few weeks, leaving the drivers in a desperate position.

A bus driver, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “We are not dogs - we can’t be urinating on the street. Five hours without a toilet, it is not right.”

He says if drivers are caught urinating outside, they can be fined £80. The only alternative for bus drivers are the toilets in the Spires Shopping Centre in Barnet, which closes at 5:30pm.

Bus driver Mr D. Kamal says TfL lock both toilets despite the problems only ever being in the male cubicle. “The ladies are suffering for nothing,” he said. “Some bus drivers have to hold on up until 10 o’clock which is a health hazard.”

He says there are not enough facilities for the amount of drivers covering the route and they are a poor standard so they leak all the time.

Currently, there is one toilet for male bus drivers and one for female drivers.

General manager at Brent Cross Shopping Centre, Tom Nathan, said he was not aware of the toilets’ closure and is happy for the drivers to use the toilets in the shopping centre during opening hours.

He said: “Staff are the only people allowed in before opening to go to their shops. We do a lot of maintenance and cleaning before it is open.

“For obvious reasons, we do not let the public in because we do not want anyone getting hurt.”

“We have no issue with the drivers using the facilities. I see the drivers a lot and say hello to them,” he added.

He pointed out that although the shopping centre is not associated with the bus company, he is concerned about the toilet closure as it is an issue affecting people living in Brent Cross.

David Edwards, TfL press officer, said the toilets had been vandalised and were due to re-open by Friday next week.