Glasgow: Parents take teens to washroom

GLASGOW, Scotland, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- A Scotland city council regulation says a parent must escort children under 16 years old to the washroom in places such as restaurants.

The Glasgow rule requires parents to accompany their children everywhere within a licensed establishment, which arguably would mean that, for example, a teenage boy would have to go to the women's restroom with his mother, The Sunday Times of London said.

The regulation, which went into effect in late 2009, provides: "While children are in any part of licensed premises and in particular the toilet areas, they must at all times be within sight of an accompanying adult."

"We can't risk (non-compliance), even if a youngster is 15, for fear of putting our license at risk," Francesco Longo, manager of Barbarossa, a Glasgow Italian restaurant, said.

"This rule fits with the principle of protecting children from harm. Clearly it would be unacceptable for children to be unsupervised on licensed premises, but equally we expect licensees to apply this rule with a degree of common sense," the council said.