Inconvenient: Equalities Minister Caroline Dinenage was drawn into the row over the toilet sign

It should have been the perfect row for David Cameron’s Equalities Minister to resolve: whether men have the right to use a unisex toilet.

But unfortunately for Caroline Dinenage, the argument was over the loo in her local Tory association – and it resulted in the indignant resignation of her party chairman.

Former Naval officer Peter Lockyer quit as a matter of ‘principle’ after his efforts to change the unisex lavatory into a women-only facility were undermined by one of Ms Dinenage’s aides.

Mr Lockyer felt he had no choice but to stand down after his personal intervention in a dispute engulfing staff at the association headquarters in Gosport, Hampshire, failed.

Following complaints that men were leaving the toilet in a ‘disgusting state’, he had pinned a note to the door saying ‘ladies’. But his diktat was ignored, and when he returned from a holiday in Antigua last month, he discovered the paper sign had been removed.

After an investigation, he found that Ms Dinenage’s assistant, Glenn Duggan, was the culprit.

When challenged, Mr Duggan said he had been designated an ‘honorary lady’ by another local official, and so entitled to use the loo.

In his resignation letter, Mr Lockyer explained: ‘I noticed that the sign had been removed from the door. I had personally fixed the sign to the door. I made enquiries and was told that Glenn Duggan had taken the sign down.

‘Duggan sent me an email that said the ladies had made him an honorary lady so that he could use it. His words, not mine! He also went on to dictate toilet law to me.

‘I do not intend to continue to work with… office bullies. It may seem a simple and childish reason to resign. However, to me it has become a principle. Principle is a path a man must have as a personal code of right conduct. It is therefore with heavy heart that I resign as chairman.’

It also emerged that another official, councillor Alan Scard, had also ignored the sign. Mr Lockyer, a grandfather, said he challenged Mr Scard, who ‘was most officious about the situation [and said] that nobody was going to stop him using the ladies’ toilet’.

The headquarters of Gosport Conservative Association has three toilets in total: a ladies’ and gents’ downstairs, plus the contested loo upstairs, which has traditionally been used by both men and women.

Clash: Glenn Duggan (left) sent the below email to Chairman Peter Lockyer (right) who quit over the loo row

Last night Mr Lockyer told The Mail on Sunday: ‘I worked well with Caroline Dinenage for two years, but it’s her staff [that’s the issue].

‘I mean, what’s the headline going to be on this? ToiletGate? I told them they had no right to take the Ladies’ sign down. This was the final straw. They wanted to get me out in the end. They don’t use the downstairs one because they are lazy.

‘I’ve been there two years and I’ve never used the upstairs toilet. It’s unbelievable that grown men will fight over a ladies’ toilet.’

But Mr Duggan, who has used the offices for eight years, defended his use of the upstairs toilet.

‘It is much more convenient. This signage was put up without warning. I cannot comment on why someone would be forced to resign.’

In his email to Mr Lockyer, Mr Duggan admitted using the toilet, despite feeling ‘awkward’ doing so, after association president Margaret Snaith-Tempia designated him an honorary woman. He also cited the Workplace (Health, Safety and Welfare) Regulations 1992 in defence of his stance.

Ms Snaith-Tempia said: ‘I’ve been with the association since 1978 and we have never ever had anything like this before. I don’t mind who uses the toilet. I spend a good deal of my time in France where all of the toilets are for men and women, and it’s something that doesn’t faze me.’

The new chairman, Brian Taylor, said he was happy for the disputed toilet to be unisex, adding: ‘To be honest I am fed up with talking about the toilet. We have to move on.’