HIGHGATE’S public loos re-opened on Saturday, and there to welcome them back was the woman who has returned by popular demand to clean them.

Margaret Ahern, 68, from Archway, had kept the Pond Square toilets spotless for eight years – until they were   closed by Town Hall bosses in April last year.

The grandmother-of-four, who has been looking after the public loos in South End Green, Hampstead, for the last year, said she was delighted to be back in Highgate.

She added: “I was upset when they were closed. Now I am so pleased they are open again. I have to say a big thank-you to all the people who have campaigned to have me back here.”

The public conveniences in Highgate, West Hampstead and Kentish Town were closed because the Town Hall claimed the £93,000 cost of maintaining them could not be justified.

New environment chief Tory councillor Mike Greene, who formally re-opened the toilets on Saturday, said: “We now have a council that believes in supporting its community and listening to residents. The toilets are open permanently.”

Pictured: Isabel Raphael from Highgate Literary and Scientific Institution, Cllr Mike Greene, Michael Hammerson from the Highgate Society and Margaret Ahern