Bus driver loo has been outside my home for seven months – it stinks

A dad says the value of his home has fallen by £100,000 after a toilet for bus drivers suddenly appeared outside his home like Doctor Who’s TARDIS.

Brett Kemp, 53, says he’s struggling to sell his house in Purley, south London, after the loo, dubbed the ‘Turdis’, appeared in July 2024 after he came back from holiday.

TfL (Transport for London) said in December that it was working to find a new location for the bog but it still hasn’t been moved.

The Turdis first appeared in Biggin Hill in 2019 but was swiftly removed after only one month because it was vandalised.

Now, Turdis 2.0 is back and Brett is worried that other Londoners may soon see one turn up on their front door step.

TfL confirmed it is not the exact same loo as the one in 2019, just the same design, and said it ‘plans to move the toilet to a more permanent site’.

But Brett hasn’t been given a timeframe and told Metro he is only being provided updates by TfL every Friday.

Brett, who owns an oven cleaning business, said: ‘I’m losing the will to live. The inability of TfL to move the toilet just 20 to 30 yards with a forklift truck is unbelievable. It just needs to be lifted and moved to an appropriate place.

‘The stress levels are immense. I can’t pay the mortgage on this because it was previously rented. I now wish to sell so there’s no income coming in so it all adds up. 

‘Life has been hell. TfL don’t seem concerned about my own personal situation.

‘It is like Turdis 2.0. It dropped down from the sky and nobody knew anything about it. It is an ugly looking structure, it stinks when they clear it out once a week and we are just not moving forward with the issue.

‘I think they are going to be appearing everywhere, they seem to have a stock of them.’

Brett, who has two teenage children, says he understands why bus drivers need the toilet but feels it needs to be moved to a more appropriate location.

He said he could sell his home if he wanted to but would need to take a huge chunk off the current asking price.

‘I’d imagine that I’d have to take £100,000 off the current price to make it attractive to a buyer,’ he said.

‘But the person buying would have to be happy taking on a stenchy toilet outside the house. Maybe it would sell then but I don’t think that is the way forward.

‘TfL should do the right thing by their community and their residents. They haven’t consulted any of the residents just like in 2019 when they put the Turdis in Biggin Hill.

‘This was removed within four weeks due to vandalism. It seems TfL are happy to move a toilet if it is vandalised.’

Brett has been left wondering why it is taking so long for TfL to listen to his grievances and shift the toilet.

Brett said: ‘I’m just embroiled with TfL at the moment with their lack of empathy for my situation. I think if it was outside Sadiq Khan’s house it would be moved.

‘My neighbour has filed complaints as well but gets the same standard response from TfL.

‘TfL should have moved the toilet in July when they first got complaints. 

‘I’ve been chasing my contact at TfL for nine days now and haven’t received a response until just today.’

A spokesperson for TfL told Metro: ‘Plans to move the toilet to a permanent site following the temporary location are currently being finalised.

‘It is essential for bus driver welfare that we maintain access to toilet facilities for drivers.

‘We have been in regular contact with Mr Kemp on our plans and are now updating him on the latest.

‘We apologise that this has taken some time but we need to make sure the move is right for drivers and the community.’

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