Overflowing toilets in Westfield Mt Gravatt Garden City strands shoppers

A pregnant woman is reportedly one of countless shoppers to be left stranded after a plumbing disaster created chaos at a popular Brisbane shopping centre during the Christmas rush.

Westfield Mt Gravatt, formerly Garden Cuty Shopping Centre. Picture: Kristy Muir

A plumbing disaster has created chaos at one of Brisbane’s major shopping centres in the middle of the Christmas rush.

Widespread plumbing issues have forced hoards of shoppers at Westfield Mt Gravatt to line up to use the bathrooms with the toilets backed up, full of faeces and unable to be flushed.

Shopper Steph Girle attended the centre earlier this afternoon and found “huge line-ups” for the few toilets that were in operation.

“I went into three different ones and they were all the same,” she said.

“You can’t flush them, there’s no water.”

She said she was told by a retail worker the centre was experiencing the same issues yesterday as there were more shoppers than the plumbing system could handle.

“There were a lot of people coming embarrassed out of stalls,” she said.

“It wasn’t signed or anything.”

At 36 weeks’ pregnant, Ms Girle said she found herself “waddling around” trying to find a working bathroom.

“All the women’s toilets were just disgusting,” she said.

“I ended up having to use a disabled toilet, which I felt terrible about.

“Even those were starting to have no pressure with the flushing.”

Despite the allegedly widespread issue, Ms Girle said she saw just one ‘out of order’ sign in a parents’ room.

She did not recall seeing any cleaners or plumbers attending to the situation.

Westfield Mt Gravatt has been contacted for comment.