Civil servants' 17-year wait for loo roll

Civil servants had to wait 17 years for softer toilet paper, documents released by the National Archives today revealed.

An appeal for more comfortable loo roll was first made in 1964 by the doctor of a civil servant who found the hard Government-issue paper aggravated his piles.

But a Whitehall official dismissed the request, telling the doctor that an increase of half a farthing in the price of lavatory paper would cost the Government £130,000 a year.

Further pleas were made by suffering officials in 1967 and 1969, but again cost was cited as a reason for sticking with the old-style sheets.

It was only in 1981 that the cost of soft rolls dropped below that of hard paper, and civil servants were finally able to enjoy comfort in their toilet breaks.

The file on the long-running debate - including earnest medical discussions of the porosity and comfort of various brands - was released by the Archives at Kew under the new freedom of information legislation.