Dobbies Shepton Mallet urinals causing a stink

The public relations campaign by Dobbies for the opening of their new Shepton Mallet garden centre has litterally gone down the toilet - or has it?

Whilst some trade journalists have made a big thing about the claim by Dobbies that their specially imported urinals are unique, I wonder if this has been a cleverly orchestrated and deliberate attempt to pull the garden trade press' chain and get loads of free editorial advertising?

Barton Grange were indeed the first to install floral urinals in their garden centre toilets back in September 2008.

When the Barton Grange toilets were installed I spoke to Guy Topping, who told me: "My grandmother always used to say you can really judge a place by its toilets, so we knew we had to make ours special. Carol, my wife, found these flower urinals on the internet and we just felt they were perfect for us – very quirky but horticultural too."

This is Somerset reports that the £6 million garden centre was opend by vice-chairman Cllr Neil Shearn of Shepton Mallet Town Council but it was not without its objections.

2,500 people signed a petition against the centre - the largest ever refurbishment ever carried out by Dobbies - in favour of a leisure centre.