The BBC’s gender-neutral toilets are in addition to male and female toilets and have been installed in all its buildings where possible

The BBC has installed gender-neutral lavatories in all its buildings and offers paid leave to staff changing gender in an attempt to be more welcoming to trans people.

The corporation’s policies have been revealed for the first time amid a growing national debate about transgender rights.

Cubicles that anyone can enter are favoured by transgender people who do not feel comfortable using sex-segregated facilities. However, their installation in workplaces and public spaces has sometimes proved controversial. Visitors to the Barbican arts centre in London complained this year that the introduction of unisex lavatories resulted in men using cubicles in what were previously the women’s lavatories, increasing queues for female guests.

In a submission to the media regulator Ofcom’s new report into radio industry diversity, the