News, views and top stories in your inbox. Don't miss our must-read newsletter Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Ambulance bosses have hired handwriting experts to try and identify staff members who defaced signs in gender-netural bathrooms.

The London Ambulance Service has introduced unisex toilets and changing facilities across the capital, but some NHS workers have been making their displeasure clear.

The Times reported that NHS bosses claim new signs identifying the unisex facilities have been defaced, with some workers "ripping them down" and others having "taken a permanent marker... to make changes".

(Image: Getty Images/EyeEm)

The service has been trying to become more inclusive for transgender people. Emergency operators have also been told not to call people "sir" or "madam" and to stop using "Mr" or "Mrs", even if 999 callers request it. Internal forms at the service include the gender-neutral pronoun "Mx".

The changes were revealed by Jules Lockett, head of emergency operations centre training at the London Ambulance Service and joint head of its lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender network at a conference in London, who said that one member of staff has been identified so far.

(Image: Getty Images/PhotoAlto)

Jules said the service had faced down "bravado" to bring in the new measures, and added: "We did get a lot of people trying to rip the signs down, so we just printed a lot off and were just going round and sticking them back on.

"What people don't realise is we've had one of our directors who has collected these signs, collected the handwriting and asked for a professional analyst to compare that handwriting with the handwriting they used on their patient report form, and we have found a person."

A spokesperson for the London Ambulance Service told The Times there had been a "small number of occasions" where offensive graffiti had been seen on gender-neutral signs.