HUNDREDS of council houses in Bolton still do not have an upstairs toilet.

And the situation, which forces tenants to trek downstairs and through their kitchen to answer the call of nature, has been condemned by councillors and residents.

Kearsley's Cllr John Rothwell said: "It seems totally unacceptable to me in this day and age that people are forced to go down all that way in the middle of the night to use the loo.

"If the council is winning awards for some of its work then it seems crazy that they can't make sure tenants have the most basic of essential facilities near where they sleep at night."

He added: "In the old days, people might have been prepared to use a chamber pot. But that isn't really acceptable now -- and most modern beds aren't designed to fit a pot under anyway!"

Latest figures show that 350 council houses still have downstairs toilets -- 56 in Kearsley still have toilets at the back of their homes; 88 on the Oldhams estate in Astley Bridge, 16 in Farnworth town centre; and 12 in Mancroft Terrace, Great Lever.

But by far the greatest problem exists on the Hall i'th' Wood estate where 200 homes still do not have an upstairs toilet.

A spokesman for the Hall i'th' Wood Residents' Association said: "It's not fair for people who have a burglar alarm to have to either switch it off to go down to the loo or hang on until the morning.

"And children are often scared of going downstairs on their own in the dark."

A programme of work has installed about 200 upstairs toilets during the last two years.

And negotiations are on-going with tenants to get the rest of the work completed.

In some cases, such as where there is an elderly or disabled tenant, they prefer to keep the toilet downstairs.

Council housing cabinet member Cllr Noel Spencer was unavailable for comment.